Excuses
by Jen89
Summary: When Chase gives Cameron the chance to decide, once and for all, who she wants to be with, who will she choose? The safe bet Chase or the unpredictable House? This follows Cameron as she makes her choice.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: House does not belong to me. Nor does anything else you recognise. This applies to the whole story.**

_Now, here's the prologue. I hope you enjoy it._

_**Excuses.**_

_Prologue._

"You don't understand."

"Well, explain it to me then."

"I'm doing it for you, Allison. Not for me. I don't want to do it but I'm doing it for you. You aren't happy. I want you to be happy."

Allison Cameron brushed her hair out of her eyes impatiently and stared at Robert Chase in bewilderment.

He had spent weeks, _months_, asking her out, telling her he wanted to be with her, practically begging her to be with him. And now he was what? _Dumping _her?

"Chase, what the hell are you talking about? Our relationship is fine so you're breaking it off because…?" she trailed off, waiting for him to finish her sentence.

"Of you. I'm breaking it off because of you. I know you want to want to be with me but you can't. You're still in love with House. No, don't argue," he said, raising his hand to stem Cameron's objections as she opened her mouth to interrupt. Obediently, she closed it again and watched him in silence, waiting for him to continue.

"Thank you. You _are _in love with him. I can see it in your eyes when you look at him. You don't look at me that way.

"Allison you're great, and I do want you. But if you stay with me while pining after him, that's not going to make either of us happy. I'd hate to feel you were settling for me.

"So, let's just take a break, let you sort things out in your head and if you do decide it's me you want, fantastic. But if it's him, that's okay too. And if it is him, fight for him. You deserve to be with whoever you want, Allison."

With that Chase gave her a small smile and turned, walking out of her apartment, closing the door behind him. Allison Cameron was left alone with her very confused thoughts.


	2. Chapter 1

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It made my day to hear what you all thought and I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me. A couple of people mentioned a problem with Chase and his reaction and thanks for pointing this out to me. I hope the next chapter will sort out this problem and make him seem more believable._

_Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it._

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 1._

The next morning Allison Cameron walked into the clinic at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and grabbed a file from the in tray on the large reception desk. A light layer of make-up covered the evidence of a sleepless night, spent thinking about her conversation with Chase.

Casting a quick glance at the sheet of paper on front of the file, she called into the busy waiting area,

"Ryan Sherman?"

A middle aged man with a receding hairline and bulging waistline stood up and walked towards her.

"If you'd like to follow me to exam room two please." Cameron smiled at him before turning and walking down the corridor. 

Her mind wandered once again to yesterday evening. Chase or House? Her head or her heart? She was in no doubt as to the sensible course of action.

Chase would tell her everyday how he felt about her. He would support her, she could talk to him about her feelings and they would be able to reach mature, adult decisions together. She could have children with him. He would be able to play football with his son, lift his daughter onto his shoulders. Cameron didn't think House would even want children, let alone be able to do these things with them. Chase was obviously the logical choice.

But how she felt about Chase was different to how she felt about House. House was offensive and uncooperative, yes, but he challenged her, encouraged her and made her work for everything he gave her. There was an attraction there that she didn't share with Chase. House was older, sure, but he was also funny, clever and, she had to admit, the most attractive man she had ever come across. Cameron knew her heart pointed to him.

Reaching the door to exam room two she forced her mind back to the task at hand and pushed it open, walking in and holding it open for Ryan Sherman. Closing it behind them, she turned to the patient and smiled.

"Take a seat on the bed please Mr Sherman. I'm Doctor Cameron. What appears to be the trouble today?"

Ryan Sherman sat, as instructed, on the edge of the black bed with his hands resting on his knees. 

"I er… I've had a strange sensation in my hands for a couple of days. They almost feel like they're burning. It's really quite unusual. I've never felt anything like it before and just thought I should get some advice."

"Understandable. When it comes to your health you can't be too careful. Have you been taking part in any unusual strenuous activity lately that could have affected your hands?" Cameron asked, taking one of his hands in hers and inspecting it closely.

"No, nothing I can think of. Could it be anything serious?"

"I think we should run a few tests, just to be on the safe side. Pains such as these can often be treated very effectively with medicine." Walking to the desk where she had left the file she pulled out a pen and began to write the details of the patient's complaint down.

"If you just wait here I will go and schedule some tests and a nurse will be with you shortly to…"

A sudden movement in the corner of her eye caused Cameron to break off abruptly and spin around. Ryan Sherman's left hand had flown to his chest and his face was contorted with apparent pain. He gasped and bent forward, his eyes clenched shut.

"Mr Sherman? Mr Sherman!" 

Cameron threw open the door and yelled down the hall,

"Can I have some help in here please!" 

As she heard several pairs of feet sprinting towards her she ran back into the room and eased the patient onto his back.

"It's alright. It's alright. We'll take care of you."


	3. Chapter 2

_Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I love hearing what you all think and hope this chapter goes down as well as the last one. _

_One thing I should mention at this point. You've probably noticed that this story is set at the end of series three. I haven't actually seen any of series four and, although I know House has new fellows, I don't know who they are or how to write their actions realistically. For this reason, I have not written about them in the story so I don't get their characters wrong._

_Thanks again. Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 2._

"House!"

Cameron hurried down the corridor to catch up with the doctor striding ahead of her. Even though he walked with a cane, Cameron had to jog slightly to keep up with him.

"House I need you." She said, resting her hand on his arm to stop his movement.

Shrugging her hand off his arm, House stared down at her.

"I know you do but we've discussed this. You're too young, you're too nice, you're emotionally screwed up and I'm… well, I don't want to go into that. I'm sure if you talked to Cuddy she could fill in the gap."

"I need your help on a _medical _matter." Cameron emphasised as she held the file she had in her hand up for him to see.

"Sure, you say that _now_, after I've shot you down again. I'm not interested." House said, ignoring the file and turning to go.

"Male, 49, came into the clinic 6 hours ago with a burning sensation in his hands and then developed severe chest pains. ER did all the usual tests. Nothing." Cameron called down the hall after his retreating back.

House stopped in his tracks and turned. Cameron smiled inwardly, knowing she'd got his attention now.

"Gave another guy a heart attack, Cameron? You have to stop preying on older men. Their hearts can't take it." House said as he walked back down the hall towards her and snatched the file from her hands.

"Are you basing this theory on personal experience, House?" 

Receiving no reply but an intense stare, Cameron continued, "Anyway, if you think you can't handle it..." she stepped close to him and took the file back, her hand making contact with his for a little longer than was strictly necessary. Turning on her heel she began to walk back down the corridor, towards the elevator.

"Cameron." House called after her, causing her to stop and face him again. Leaning heavily on his cane, House limped towards her.

"Did I say I couldn't handle it?" His eyes bore into hers and his warm breath lightly danced across her cheek as he bent forwards.

Cameron's heart started beating faster and her breathing accelerated as House invaded her personal space. Her brain ground to a halt and she knew that whatever he asked her to do in that moment, she would do it. Sensing these physiological changes in her being, House smiled in triumph and pulled the file from her loosened grip.

"Gimme." He opened the file and began to walk towards his office, leaving Cameron rooted to the spot with limited brain function. Noticing that she hadn't moved House looked over his shoulder.

"Come on then." He called back to her.

Shaking herself Cameron followed him into the conference room. Looking around at the largely unchanged room the familiarity of the place filled her body with warmth. Noticing the absence of House's new fellows she asked him where they were.

"Downstairs. Doing tests on another case. That's why you're here- you're going to help on this one. Why else would you be here? I don't know if you've noticed but you don't work in this office any more. Sit down." 

Grabbing his black marker he spun the whiteboard around to the blank side which did not bear the symptoms of his other case and began to write Ryan Sherman's details. Cameron settled herself at the conference table and watched him copy the symptoms from her notes. 

As she watched him her mind returned to the pressing problem of which man to choose. Her body's uncontrolled reaction when House had stood close to her confirmed her strong attraction to him. 

What was wrong with her? 

He had only stood near her. He hadn't even touched her. She had never responded that way when Chase stood next to her. She couldn't fool herself into thinking that she felt the same chemistry with Chase that existed so naturally, so effortlessly, between her and House. Chase was a great guy but he just wasn't House.

After he had finished he threw the file onto the table and surveyed the paltry list of symptoms.

"Got an exercise echo booked? It could tell us if the source of the problem is his heart."

Cameron pulled her mind out of her personal problem and forced it to concentrate on the case.

"He's scheduled in an hour." She replied.

"No. An hour's too long. Come on Cameron. Did you ever wait in line when you worked with me? You're supposed to learn from your fellowship so just do what you did with me. Go down and do it now. Nobody's going to stop a test half way through just because it's their turn."

"Fine. And if it's negative?"

"Come back and see me. Same goes if there are any new symptoms."

Cameron nodded and, recognising her cue to leave, got up from the table and started walking towards the door.

"Cameron?"

"Yes?" She faced House, who was standing next to the board studying her closely.

"Chase didn't drive you into work today. You get into an argument about who has prettier hair?"

"I didn't know you noticed my transportation habits."

With that Cameron walked out of the conference room, leaving House staring after her.


	4. Chapter 3

_Hi everyone. _

_Hope you all had a great weekend and thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Here's the next chapter, up a bit earlier than expected_

_Hope you all like it._

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 3._

Chase took a gulp of his coffee in its to-go cup as he left the shop and approached his car. Unlocking the door he slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. He glanced across at the passenger seat, where Cameron usually sat, only to find it depressingly devoid of her presence.

Chase reached into the back seat and grabbed his briefcase, relocating it to the passenger seat in an attempt to dispel the empty image.

He had to adjust it a few times before being satisfied, although it still did not make up for Cameron's absence. He checked the road was clear and drove onto it, after resting his coffee in the cup holder in the middle of the front seat.

Heading towards the hospital Chase thought back to the conversation he and Cameron had the night before.

He had meant what he said- he wanted her to be happy, but he hoped she decided she could be happy with him. After all, he had been there for her, he was considerate to her emotions and had made it clear how he felt about her whereas House had told Cameron repeatedly that there was no future for the pair of them, knocked her back at every opportunity but still she went back for more.

What was it about House?

Cameron, Stacy, even patients at death's doorstep couldn't stop flirting with House. He seemed to have a kind of magnetism about him that Chase just didn't see.

If House truly believed that there was nothing between Cameron and himself, why could he not resist the urge to be near her, talk to her and flirt with her every chance he got?

If he hadn't given her the chance to decide now, Chase knew Cameron would have spent the rest of her life looking over her shoulder for House, wondering what her life would have been like if she had gone down a different path. If he made her choose now, maybe she could finally let go of House and move on.

Whoever she chose, at least she would be happy.

He was forced to brake suddenly as a van pulled out of a road ahead of him. It was dangerous to think about her now.

Pulling into the parking lot at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital ten minutes later he noticed Cameron's car a few spaces from the exit.

It was unexpected, though he wasn't sure why- after all, how else was she supposed to get to work? During their relationship he had driven her to and from work nearly every day and the sight of her car now made him fully realise that he faced the prospect of losing her.

His only hope was that Cameron would decide she didn't want to be rejected by House any more, and instead wanted the life Chase could offer her. Chase knew that, if she let him, he could make Cameron happy, but that would only happen if she chose him over House.

Chase hoped Cameron made her decision soon one way or the other, because it had been less than a day and already the suspense was making him crazy.

He parked his car in the furthest available spot from Cameron's in the hope that he could avoid her after work. They no longer worked in the same department so there was no reason why they should run into each other during the day, unless one of them sought out the other.

Chase picked up his briefcase in one hand, the coffee cup in the other and got out of his car, slamming the door shut with his foot. Setting the briefcase on the ground, he locked the door before picking the briefcase up again and walking towards the hospital entrance.

Maybe work would take his mind off of Cameron.

* * *

At that moment, Cameron left the conference room more confused than ever.

Why would House be interested in how she got to work? Or what had happened between her and Chase?

The only plausible explanations she could think of were that either he was interested in her, something that he had denied many times over the years, or he was just being his usual, inconsiderate self, trying to upset her by bringing up what he must have deduced as an argument between her and Chase.

_ Was it necessary for him to stand that close to me?_ she wondered as she pressed the button for the elevator. Judging by the knowing smirk on his face he must have sensed her reaction to him. Personal experience had taught her that men didn't act that way with women they weren't interested in.

If he had meant it all those times when he had pushed her away, deliberately hurt her and rejected her, surely he wouldn't have looked so pleased when he noticed her state of being after standing near him.

The elevator arrived and she stepped in, her mind still in turmoil, pressing the button for her patient's floor.

She didn't have this problem with Chase. She wasn't left wondering what his feelings were. He told her exactly what was on his mind and it was much less work being with him than House. Being with House would be difficult and she knew that they would argue frequently.

She wasn't sure that was a bad thing, though. She didn't like men who didn't speak their minds, men who agreed with her just to keep her happy.

It got tiresome after a while.

One of the things she missed most about her fellowship was arguing with House on a daily basis. It was the only time he let her see that he actually cared. He could keep up the nonchalant persona the rest of the time but when he argued with her, pressed his point, she could see that he would fight for what he believed was the best action.

That passion was something she wanted in her life.

The elevator arrived at her floor and she stepped out, greeting two doctors she passed on her way down the hall to Ryan Sherman's room.

Walking in, she forced her face into a more reassuring position, so that the patient would not see her uneasy state of mind.

"Good afternoon, Mr Sherman. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"To tell you the truth, not fantastic," he replied. "Have my test results shown what the problem is?"

"Not yet, but we have secured the help of the best diagnostician in the country to work on your case. I promise you we're doing everything we can to find out what the problem is. As you know, you had a small heart attack and your tests show your blood pressure is a little high. What we're going to do now, if it's alright with you, is take you downstairs to perform an exercise echo which will tell us if the source of the problem is your heart," she explained.

"What's that?" he enquired.

"Basically, we take an image of your heart at rest then another after you run on a treadmill for a few minutes. It's quite a common test and nothing to worry about."

"Fine. Do what you need to do."

"Let me just go and get a wheelchair and then we'll head down." Cameron smiled at Ryan Sherman and left the room.

Cameron walked across the nurse's station and smiled at the nurse in purple scrubs behind the desk.

"Hi, Sarah. Do you have any wheelchairs that aren't being used?" she asked.

"Er… sure. Is it for Mr Sherman? I thought he wasn't booked for a test for forty-five minutes?" Sarah replied as she looked under the desk and pulled out a folded up wheelchair.

"Well… no, he's not but the room isn't in use for the next ten minutes so I'm going to do it now" Cameron said as Sarah walked around the desk and handed her the wheelchair.

Sarah helped Cameron set up the wheelchair and then looked at her knowingly.

"Talk to House, did you?"

"How can you tell?" Cameron rolled her eyes and began to walk back to room 261 with the chair.

Entering the room Cameron looked up at her patient sitting in the bed.

"Ready to go?" she asked, moving the wheelchair to his bedside.

"Sure." He replied.

As Cameron held the wheelchair still and the man pulled himself out of bed and onto the chair, the shoulder of his hospital robe fell down.

"Wait!" she said suddenly- her hand shooting out to prevent him pulling the robe back up. "Have you noticed those before?"

Ryan Sherman looked down to his upper chest and instantly saw what she was referring to.

"I… no. No I haven't. They weren't here when I came in. What are they?" he replied, looking back up at her for an answer.

"Skin lesions. We have a new symptom."


	5. Chapter 4

_Hi everyone._

_Once again thankyou to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It was great to know what you all thought. _

_I hope you enjoy the this chapter._

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 4._

Cameron opened the door to the conference room and was greeted by the sight of House sitting with his feet resting on the conference table, reading a magazine.

"How did the exercise echo go?" House asked, not looking up from his magazine.

"Well, first of all, Doctor Birch walked in halfway through, angry that I'd stolen his test time. For some reason he deduced that I must have done it because of you. He asked me to tell you that you're an ass. He said you'd know what he meant."

"That's the least subtle code in the world. Next time you see him tell him…"

"House," Cameron interrupted. "Listen. Test was negative. But we have a new symptom."

"I'm on the edge of my seat. Do tell."

"Skin lesions on his upper chest. They must have developedafter he came in because he hadn't noticed them before, and neither did I or any of the nurses when he was admitted."

House pushed himself up using his cane and limped over to the board, now devoid of his other patient's symptoms and turned it around to display Ryan Sherman's details.

"Solved the mystery of the other guy?" Cameron asked as House added skin lesions to the list.

"Sjogren's syndrome. Team have gone home to sleep because they were here all night and they were irritating me with their whining. I mean you guys were bad but at least you didn't bother me for things to do."

He stood back and stared at the list, his brow furrowed.

"Burning hands, heart attack, high blood pressure, skin lesions. What's going on?"

It took Cameron a moment to realise that the question was not rhetorical.

"You mean other than the fact that the patient has them all? I'm not sure. Could be autoimmune. Maybe lupus. Explains the strange sensation in the hands and heart problems. And there are links found between heart disease and skin lesions."

"Did you know that since you left, there hasn't been one mention in this office of lupus? Can't honestly say I missed hearing it every other day. What else?" 

"Nerve damage would explain the burning sensation."

"But nothing else. Has a culture been done to test for bacteria?"

"Yes. The lab did one this morning."

"Did the lab do it or did you do it?"

"The lab. I had to stay in the ER."

House grabbed his cane from where it was resting against the desk and began to walk towards the door. Quickly gathering the file off the table, Cameron rushed after him, catching the conference room door before it shut and following him down the corridor towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?"

"Never trust results that aren't your results. Maybe the lab screwed up. _We're_ going to redo it."

Jabbing the elevator button with his cane he turned to face her.

"We need to test for skin infections, heart disease and lupus."

Cameron's eyes shot up to meet his at this last point.

"Maybe then you'll stop looking at me like I shot your dog."

The elevator arrived and they both stepped in.

"Anyway," House added as the doors shut behind them, "You can't _always _be wrong."

* * *

Chase pressed the elevator button again, transferring his weight from foot to foot. He knew pummelling the button wouldn't make the elevator come any faster, but he was already late for clinic duty and he found pressing it gave him something to do besides think about Cameron.

He had overheard two nurses, who were working in the cardiovascular ward under Dr. Birch, talking earlier and knew that she had stolen another patient's test time. It was so unlike Cameron to put the needs of her patient above the needs of other patients in the hospital that Chase knew there was only one conclusion to be reached.

She had gone to House for help. 

A few days ago, Chase wouldn't have minded her turning to her ex-boss, as Chase trusted her deeply. If she was dating him, there was no way she would allow something to happen between House and herself. Now, however…

Did this mean she was leaning more towards House? Or was she just doing what she always did and acting in the best way for her patient?

Still, it rankled with him that, although she had been avoiding him, she had no problem going to House for answers.

Just as he was reaching out to press the button again, the doors slid open before him and he saw the two occupants of the elevator. One of whom was the woman who had been plaguing his thoughts. And the other was his unwitting rival for her affections.

Chase hoped Cameron hadn't told House about the ultimatum he had given her, but given House's shrewd mind, he would probably notice something was amiss regardless of whether Cameron had told him or not.

As there was nobody else waiting for the elevator, Chase had no choice but to step in or House would know for certain that something was going on. So he stepped into the elevator, offering a short greeting to House and Cameron, receiving a nod from House while Cameron stared at her feet, and pressed the ground floor button.

Positioning himself on the opposite side of the elevator from Cameron, Chase watched her out of the corner of his eye. She looked like she had slept as poorly as he had and, as she shifted restlessly, he instantly felt guilty for being the source of her unease.

_ But,_ he reminded himself, _it had to be done._

Cameron hadn't expected to find herself in such close proximity to both Chase and House so soon. If she was honest, she had hoped to avoid this situation altogether but when the doors opened revealing Chase on the other side, she realised that had been a foolish thing to hope for. The atmosphere in the elevator suddenly thickened and Cameron was sure that House, already aware that something had happened between her and Chase, could not have failed to notice. His exceptional perception had earned him the reputation as best diagnostician in the country and Cameron knew he was equally insightful in many other areas.

The awkward silence swelled and House looked between his ex-employees. He had been right- there was definitely something going on and he would find out what.

* * *

The journey to the ground floor passed agonisingly slowly for Cameron and Chase but the other occupant of the elevator seemed to be quite enjoying attempting to determine the source of the awkwardness between his old fellows.

The moment the doors opened, Chase rushed out, and headed towards the clinic. Cameron let out an exhalation of relief that nothing had been said which, although it was relatively quiet, did not escape House's notice.

House watched her as she stepped out of the elevator ahead of him and turned towards the lab. Looking back at him standing in the elevator, she forced a smile to her face in an effort to make him believe the awkwardness in the elevator was in his mind. Staring into his face, however, his eyes intently studying her face, she seriously doubted it had worked. And, if she knew House, he wasn't going to let it go until he knew exactly what had transpired between her and Chase.


	6. Chapter 5

_Hello everybody!_

_Thanks to everybody who has been reviewing, I really appreciate it. Reading all the positive reviews this story has received makes my day so much better, so thank you for that._

_Have a great day!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 5._

After exiting the elevator, Chase quickly made his way to the clinic, not stopping to help a young doctor when he ran into her, knocking a pile of files from her arms, barely noticing her in his preoccupation. He pushed open the door to the clinic, passing a nurse heading in the opposite direction to help the doctor kneeling on the floor picking up the files.

He hadn't expected to run into Cameron so soon, and the fact that she was with House the first time he had seen her since the conversation had made the experience so much worse. He knew he couldn't have avoided her forever but being in a confined space with her and House had been too much, too soon.

"Doctor Chase!" Chase turned around and came face to face with Cuddy. "You're late. Exam room three please." With that she pushed a file into his outstretched hand, turned and walked away.

Sighing, Chase flipped the front sheet of the file up and began reading the details as he walked towards the exam room. _Female, 27, tightness in chest and a sore throat,_ he read and gave a small internal laugh. This would bore House, he would obnoxiously pass it off as diagnostically simple and not worth his time.

House and Cameron were polar opposites, where House would resent treating a patient with such simple symptoms, Cameron would do it with pleasure, happy just to be helping people. House would never be like Cameron and she would never be like him. If Cameron despised House's bedside manner as much as she appeared to, how could she believe he would be better behaved in his personal life, that he could make her happy?

_ Then again,_ the snide little voice lurking at the edge of his mind whispered, _they do say opposites attract_. Shaking off his mental demon, Chase pushed open the door to exam room three and greeted his patient.

* * *

Cameron strode ahead towards the lab, preventing House asking any questions, at least for the time being, while her mind desperately tried to come up with a plausible story to tell House when he inevitably pressed for the truth. House was House and Cameron knew he wouldn't let the awkwardness in the elevator slide without knowing its cause. Hopefully, if she managed to concoct a believable lie, which was unlikely, considering she was widely known in her home town as the worst liar ever to live there, she would reach Chase before House did and be able to convince him to go along with it.

Although with Chase's current hostility towards her, she wasn't sure he was likely to be in the mood to cooperate.

Cameron pushed open the door to lab and entered the empty room. She had rarely found herself in the lab since she had stopped working for House- working in the ER called for fewer diagnostic tests. When she walked into her old sanctuary a peace settled over her. She had spent many hours here during her employment under House, gathering her thoughts and having some time away from the male dominated environment of the conference room.

During her fellowship, there had been a lab technician she was very close to, who had since become a full-time mother and resigned her post at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Still, it had been nice to have some female company and her and Maxine often spoke on the telephone.

As Cameron settled on a stool in front of the microscope, smiling at the familiarity of the scene, House walked into the lab and fixed her with a steady stare.

"Right," she said, determinedly avoiding his eyes. "We still have some blood to do the tests with. Which first- heart disease, skin infections or lupus?" Cameron hoped he would take the hint and not mention Chase. With his next utterance, she realised her hopes had been in vain.

"What was that about with Chase? Tell me all the juicy gossip." House said, his mocking tone and demeanour similar to that of a high school prom queen.

"House, please. Don't push it. Skin infections, heart disease or lupus?" she tried to get him to focus on the patient once more.

"Come on Cameron, you know you're not going to put me off that easily."

"Even if I don't want to talk about it?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"Especially if you don't want to talk about it. Means it's interesting, embarrassing or involves me. Possibly all three." House replied, studying her face closely. "So which is it?"

"We broke up, okay?" Cameron threw back at him, thinking that if she told him part of the truth, he wouldn't realise there was something more and press for further details.

Observing her for a second in the wake of her revelation, House responded after a moment.

"No. Too easy. There's more. What are you trying to hide from me?"

"Didn't it occur to you that I wasn't hiding it? That maybe it just didn't concern you?" Cameron's voice rose slightly as she angrily fended off his questions. "Can we just do the tests? Please, House. Skin infections, heart disease or lupus?"

House contemplated her for a second. She was hiding something. She had never denied him information, whether it concerned him or not. She had even, on occasion, gone so far as to willingly volunteer it without his even asking. After all, she had told him all about her husband with very little prompting. He hadn't even known she had been married, let alone asked about it. That information had thoroughly thrown him, he had to admit.

Just when he thought he had solved the puzzle that was Allison Cameron, she had to add another piece to the jigsaw, one which just wouldn't fit. She didn't seem like the type to get married so young. House believed that her husband's cancer had played a part in her deciding to wed at the tender age of twenty-one but still House did not see why she would decide to marry a dying man, knowing how much she would be hurt when he left her. _Human beings_, House thought, _are selfish. They will go to great lengths to avoid hurt to themselves, yet Cameron defied that rule and put herself in a situation where she was bound to get hurt. _

It was four years after he met her, and he was still trying to fathom the ins and outs of Cameron's personality.

She was hiding something and he wanted to know what.

Maybe it would give him an extra hint to solving her puzzle. _But there are other ways of finding out what happened with Chase,_ he decided.

"Do skin infection first, then heart disease, then lupus as a last resort. Although lupus is less likely than Cuddy coming to work in a shirt that actually covers her cleavage."

Glad that the conversation had moved away from the elevator and Chase, Cameron silently gathered the materials together to begin the tests. She was aware, though, that this was not the end of it, just a momentary halt in House's quest to discover the truth.

* * *

Ten minutes later Chase left the exam room with a diagnosis of bronchitis, justified in his assumption that the puzzle was a simple one to solve. Passing his prescription to the man in the pharmacy, Chase looked around the clinic.

Unfortunately, it wasn't really busy today so there would not be much to keep his mind of the dark haired immunologist haunting his thoughts. As the pharmacist returned with the prescribed bronchodilators another doctor arrived beside Chase. Glancing sideways he noticed that she looked vaguely familiar but he wasn't sure where he had seen her before.

"Sumatriptan injection, please." The woman with long chestnut hair and deep brown eyes addressed the pharmacist in a British accent as she handed him the prescription.

"Sumatriptan?" Chase asked. "Rare."

"Cluster headache." The woman replied tersely.

"Do I know you? You look familiar." Chase asked.

"I should do. I hope you don't make a habit of knocking women to the ground and neglecting to check if they're alright."

"That was you? I'm so sorry. I was thinking about something else and wasn't really noticing what was going on. Are you alright?"

"Fine." She replied, still not looking at him.

The pharmacist returned and handed her the injection.

"Thanks." She gave the man a dazzling smile as she began walking back towards the clinic room four where her patient was waiting. Chase stared after her in confusion. _What's her problem?_ _I apologised_, he thought. He was brought back to himself by the sound of the pharmacist clearing his throat.

"Doctor Chase? Your patient?" he reminded the stunned doctor.

"In a second. Listen, do you know who that woman is? I haven't seen her before." Chase asked.

"She only started working here last week. She works in Pathology. Name's Victoria Tatum."

Chase thanked him, picked up the bottle of bronchodilators and walked back to exam room three. He had clearly gotten off on the wrong foot with Victoria Tatum. Next time he saw her, he decided, he would apologise again and try to get to know her better.


	7. Chapter 6

_Hi again. Here's the next chapter, much sooner than I expected, so that's good._

_Thanks to my friend who checks over each chapter for her quick reply._ _And, of course, thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I love reading what people think._

_Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 6._

Cameron removed her glasses and pressed the heel of her hand onto her forehead in an effort to push the growing headache away. She looked down the microscope and sighed.

"Negative for lupus."

"Negative for infection, negative for heart disease, negative for lupus. So we've been down here for two hours and accomplished... nothing. Cuddy will be pleased. She loves nothing more when I sit around getting paid for doing nothing."

"You sit around doing nothing most of the time. Why does she keep you on the payroll again?"

"I have tenure. And when I do decide to do something, it's usually brilliant."

Cameron didn't argue this point. After all, what was the point? He was right. He was always right in the end. It might take him a while to reach the answer sometimes, but he was still a lot faster than most people. It was a huge asset when treating patients but a highly annoying trait when in a debate with him.

"What next?"

"Go up and check if there have been any changes." House said.

Cameron pushed her stool away from the work bench and started towards the door.

"I'll come to see you if there's anything new."

"Wait." House's voice stopped her just before she reached the door.

Cameron held her breath, knowing instinctively what was coming next.

"So, what's going on between you and Chase?"

Cameron knew it wouldn't be long before he resumed his attack. House always was a fan of the direct approach, never leaving anyone in any doubt as to what he was getting at. _Unless he was using his ridiculous sports metaphors, _Cameron thought, a small smile creeping unbidden onto her face. As indecipherable as they had been to her, and as much as they had annoyed her at the time, Cameron had always appreciated House's skill in devising metaphors as a further display of his intelligence.

Looking over her shoulder her eyes locked with his.

"I'll see you upstairs."

Cameron left the lab unable to prevent a smile creeping across her face. House may be the most infuriating man she had ever come across but he was charming and amusing with it. She smiled and shook her head slightly. She had to admit that she loved talking to him, listening to him, just being near him filled her with happiness.

She had made her choice.

She wanted House. She always had.

Now all she had to do was tell Chase.

_ Easier said than done,_ the thought crossed her mind as she started up the stairs to the floor her patient was on.

* * *

House watched Cameron's progression out of the lab door, down the corridor and out of sight through the clear glass walls.

She was unusual, unexpected.

He normally met somebody, figured them out and had grown bored of them within a month of meeting them. Rarely did he meet somebody whose puzzle was so difficult to solve.

Hired because of her outstanding beauty, nevertheless the youngest fellow in the Diagnostic Department had quickly proved herself to be more than able at her job and infinitely much more than just a pretty face. House had always been intrigued by her and, although he had avoided becoming embroiled in a romantic entanglement with her, her feelings for him had, at least in part, been reciprocated. Then again, she was young, kind, a wonderful doctor and, as mentioned before, completely stunning, so what man wouldn't be attracted to her?

From rumours he had heard in the last few months of her employment with him, Chase was certainly not immune to her considerable charm and beauty, and was desperately trying to persuade Cameron to be with him. With this revelation came an increase in House's derision towards Chase, who had never been his favourite fellow to begin with.

No, his favourite, although he'd never tell anyone, was Cameron.

When House learned that Chase was after Cameron he had felt a strange sense of possessiveness over her and, while recognising that he really didn't have a claim over her, he objected to Chase trying to take her away from him.

He would be lying if he said that Chase's pursuing Cameron didn't factor into his decision to fire him, after all, Chase was not doing anything differently than he usually did. In his mind, House reluctantly acknowledged that one of his motives behind Chase's dismissal was to keep him away from Cameron.

When she had resigned her post working for him, he had assumed she had left the hospital as well. Next thing he knew she was back, working in the ER and in a romantic relationship with Chase.

House was not pleased. Cameron had always been _his _girl, no matter how he denied it and he hated the thought that she had moved on.

Now something had changed between Chase and Cameron, and House was willing to bet it wasn't as simple as them just breaking up, as Cameron had said.

House stood up from the chair, realising he had been sat there for far too long. He walked out of the lab and, instead of taking the elevator back to his office, directed his footsteps towards the clinic.

Chase had never been able to stand his ground when challenged by House. House knew he had more chance of getting the truth out of him than Cameron.

Time to pay Chase a visit.

* * *

Chase put his last patient's file in the discharged tray on the desk in the middle of the clinic. He reached for another from the growing stack in the in tray only to be stopped by a cane landing on his wrist.

"Ow! House, what the..."

"Had to stop you before you called another patient. I didn't want to wait while you treated another sniffling child."

"You wouldn't have waited. You would have stormed in and demanded to talk to me, however rude that may be."

"Would that have been better? Should I go away and do it again?"

"What was wrong with just calling me?" Chase asked as he rubbed the red mark on his arm.

"This way was more fun."

"Not for me."

House looked at him for a moment. Something was strange- Chase wasn't meeting his eye. Oh yes, the awkwardness in the elevator definitely had something to do with him.

"You're not going to ask me why I'm here?"

"No."

"Why not?" House asked, irritated at Chase's evasion.

"There wouldn't be much point. I know you, I know Cameron, so it follows that I know why you're here." Chase began to move away from House, trying to end the conversation but House followed him.

"Cameron? Not Allison? What happened between you two?" House asked, following Chase into an exam room and closing the door, blocking Chase's exit.

"Why do you care? Why do you want to know?"

"Because I care, of course," House said with slight sarcasm. "I want to know. Why are you avoiding the question?"

"I'm not. I just don't see how it's any of your business. Cameron and I broke up, the circumstances under which it happened are between me and her and nothing at all to do with you."

"If that were true, why do neither of you seem particularly inclined to tell the whole story?"

"Because it's none of your business!" Chase shouted, losing his temper with House and his incessant questioning.

"Chase, we both know you're going to tell me sooner or later. You always told me what I wanted to know."

"That was when I worked for you. Now I don't. You can't fire me and you can't make work miserable for me anymore so I no longer have a vested interest to keep you from getting annoyed. In fact, at the moment, there is nothing I would like more!"

Chase pushed past House and marched out of the clinic room, slamming the door behind him, leaving House lost in thought. Out of all his former employees, there had been least love lost between Chase and himself. From his last sentence, though, House sensed the Australian was harbouring more bitterness towards him than usual. Clearly, he had been part of the 'circumstances' as Chase put it, of the end of his and Cameron's relationship.

_ Does this mean Cameron still has feelings for me?_ House wondered as he departed the clinic and started towards the elevator. _Was that why they broke up?_

House shook his head, disgusted with himself.

Why was he suddenly acting like he was a high school girl?

He had to get to the bottom of this before he started twirling his hair around his finger and giggling whenever somebody talked to him.

Maybe it was time to go and see Wilson.


	8. Chapter 7

_Hi again. Thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter- it always makes me very happy to hear what people think._

_Here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it._

_Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 7._

House pushed open the door to James Wilson's office without knocking.

"What do you want, House?" the oncologist asked, not bothering to look up from the patient's file he was perusing as House closed the door behind him.

"How did you know it was me? Doesn't anybody else visit you? Poor Jimmy." House walked over to the window and looked out onto the balcony.

"Everybody else is polite enough to knock." Wilson finally looked up, and looked at his friend's back. Instinctively he knew something was irking the diagnostician.

"And what a waste of time that is. Did you ever think things would get done a lot faster if we dispensed with all those pleasantries? If we didn't need to ask how everyone is before we actually talk about the important things, then life would be much more efficient."

"But just that little bit more depressing. What's wrong, House?"

"Why would anything be wrong?" House turned and faced his friend, fixing him with an intense stare.

"Because you don't have a case, so you can't be looking for a consult, lunchtime's been and gone, so you know I don't have food and, if those things weren't enough, there's the tense posture and confusion stamped across your face. Don't you think _this _conversation would be much more efficient if I didn't have to explain _why_ I know things about you, and you just told me?"

House rubbed his left hand over his eyes with his right hand still firmly grasping his cane.

"Cameron said she and Chase broke up, but neither of them will tell me why."

"Oh that's... bad? I don't know what you want me to say. Why are you interested?" Wilson's brow furrowed as he regarded House with confusion.

"I'm not. Not really. I just want to know why they won't tell me why."

"You're lying." Wilson said simply, regarding his friend closely. "I know you're curious, but this isn't just a puzzle for you, is it?"

House threw himself down on the couch opposite Wilson's desk and closed his eyes.

"I don't know why I'm interested. Apart from the fact that they're not telling me and I want to know." House replied.

"Do you like her?"

"What is this, junior high? Because if so I heard a nurse downstairs say she thought you were cute. Do you want to write a note and I'll take it to her?"

"You're evading the question."

"I just... I don't know how to answer it. She's gorgeous and young and unbelievably nice. It's almost sickening. I never understood why she liked me."

"It's a mystery." Wilson said and then promptly closed his mouth after receiving a glare from House.

"It just... it drives me mad to think about him even touching her arm. I don't like seeing them together and I absolutely hate the idea that he can kiss her whenever he wants. I don't want them to be together."

"Do you want to be with her?"

House looked away, out of the window again and said quietly,

"I think it's a bit late for that, Wilson."

"Maybe. Maybe not. So what did they say when you asked them why they broke up?"

"Nothing. They refused to say anything. So, I think it probably has something to do with me, or they wouldn't be trying so hard to keep it from me. Chase was acting especially angry with me-"

"More so than usual?" Wilson interjected.

House nodded.

"And I thought it might be because Cameron said something to him about still liking me."

The pair lapsed into silence, contemplating the matter at hand. House was the first to shake himself out of his reverie.

"Anyway, I've got a case to solve."

"But your team aren't here."

"No, it's Cameron's patient. He came into the clinic earlier and collapsed. ER can't work out what's wrong with him."

"Cameron's?" Wilson raised his eyebrow, the corners of his lips upturned slightly.

"Shut up, Wilson. I'm doing it because it's interesting."

"Are you sure? It's nothing at all to do with Cameron?"

"Shut up, Wilson," House said again as he walked out of the office. A smile crept onto Wilson's face and he shook his head good-naturedly as he looked back down to the file on his desk and continued his work.

* * *

After performing a brief check on the patient and finding no change, Cameron decided now was as good a time as any to talk to Chase. As she stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the clinic, the door opened and the man in question walked out. He looked up suddenly and their eyes met.

Chase studied her face closely as she approached then looked away when she stopped a few feet away.

"Chase?" Cameron said softly, tentatively.

"You just missed House." He stated, looking some two feet to her left.

Cameron stood silent for a moment while she processed this information. House had been to see Chase? Of course he had. She should have expected it. She knew he always went to great lengths to find the answer to any puzzle he was presented with and going to question Chase would have been the next logical step in trying to find out what had happened. Cameron tugged herself out of this train of thought about the man in his office upstairs to concentrate on the man in front of her.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Unnecessary. I know you. I can read your face like a book. You've chosen him, right?" Chase asked, already knowing the answer.

Cameron gave a small nod, suddenly finding a spot on the ground fascinatingly interesting.

"All the same, I'd like to talk to you. Please, Chase." Cameron looked up, meeting his gaze, her eyes pleading. Chase stared steadily back for a moment then sighed.

"Fine." He led the way to a quiet corner of the foyer where he could be sure there wouldn't be an audience to Cameron breaking up with him once and for all. He stopped and faced her waiting for her to begin speaking. She took several deep breaths before talking.

"Chase... Chase, you're a great guy and I am sorry. But I have to do this. If I don't try just one more time I'm going to spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I had. I will always wonder whether House and I could have been together. It's not fair on you if I stay with you. You don't deserve to be second best. You should be with someone who wants you, and only you." Cameron's eyes were darting around throughout this entire speech but came to meet Chase's before she continued.

"I'm sorry. Please believe me when I say that. But I have to give it one more try with House. I just have to try again." Cameron finished, breathless, eyes filling with tears at the idea that her words may have hurt this man who, although she had to admit she didn't have romantic feelings for anymore, she still considered him one of the best friends she had ever had.

A few seconds passed while Chase seemed to carefully consider his response. Finally, he looked at her and gave a small smile, as though to reassure her that he was okay or that he soon would be.

"Allison, I... I meant what I said last night. I want you to be happy. I can't say I'm not a little bit disappointed but I'll be okay."

Noticing the unconvinced look in Cameron's eyes, Chase went on,

"I promise I will be alright. I wish we could have been happy together but I understand why we weren't. I hope it works out for you and House, but I do think you're facing a bit of a battle now. He's resisted your advances in the past and you're really going to have to fight to convince him to give a relationship with you a chance."

Cameron nodded, at last believing his assurances that he thought he would be fine. Chase stepped forward and gave her a quick hug saying,

"Anyway, I'm going home now." Pulling away he looked down at her.

"Good luck, Cameron."

Chase turned and walked away towards the doors leading to the car park. Cameron watched him leave and silently mouthed, _Good luck, Chase_.

After Chase had disappeared from sight, Cameron stood and thought for a moment. She decided to go and update House on their Ryan Sherman's progress and see if there was anything else he thought should be done today before going home for the night as well.

* * *

"You went to see Chase." Cameron said, opening the door to the conference room, not offering a greeting. House turned from where he was stood, studying the list of symptoms on the whiteboard.

"So, apparently, did you. Or else how would you know?"

"I went to see him. I needed to talk to him. What's your excuse?"

"So did I. What did you need to talk to him about? Was it something to do with why you aren't seeing each other anymore?"

"Look, House, would you please just let that go? All you need to know is that we aren't together anymore. We've sorted it out and you don't need to know the details."

"It doesn't fit. He was virtually attached to your hip and he gave you everything you needed so why would you break up with him?"

"Why do you assume he didn't break up with me?"

"Because I hired him."

"So?" Cameron asked, not seeing the relevance of this statement.

"So I know he isn't that much of a moron." House said quietly, staring at her with such intensity that Cameron felt sure he could read her thoughts and see what was imprinted on her heart.

After a few moments she broke the eye contact, feeling uncomfortable, and cleared her throat.

"So... erm... I went down to see Ryan Sherman. There's been no change in his condition and no new symptoms."

House nodded, deep in thought, although of what she wasn't sure. Possibly he was thinking of the next action to be taken for the patient or possibly his mind was still on her split from Chase and the fact that she was now single...

"So...?" Cameron prompted him.

"Right. Well, there's nothing else to be done today. We just have to wait to see if he develops any new symptoms. So go home, the nurses will check on him through the night, and we'll carry on tomorrow." House gave her a rare, tiny smile that used to appear in differentials when she had suggested something that had caused him to be proud of her, for example when she had detected an extra flap on Andie's heart echo before Chase or Foreman did. She smiled back and turned to leave the conference room.

"Goodnight, Cameron," House said from behind her.

"Goodnight, House." Cameron replied as she left the room.


	9. Chapter 8

_Hello everyone,_

_Here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. Unfortunately, the next few chapters won't be posted as frequently because my exams are coming up. Anyway, thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter._

_Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 8._

Cameron approached Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital at ten to nine the next morning, clutching her bag in one hand and a polystyrene cup full of coffee in the other. It was only as she approached the doors that she began to wonder how she was going to open them with both her hands full. At that moment somebody fell into step beside her.

"Good morning, Cameron." A male voice said. Cameron looked up into Wilson's face.

"Good morning, Wilson. How are you?" Cameron asked as they reached the doors. Wilson pulled open one of the doors and gestured for Cameron to precede him into the foyer, smiling, before he responded.

"I'm okay, thanks. Are you alright? I mean, is everything..."

"Wilson?" Cameron interrupted.

"Yes?"

"You've been talking to House, haven't you?"

He looked at her, one eyebrow raised slightly.

"Ridiculous questions have obvious answers, Cameron. I'm always talking to House. Or rather- he's always coming to talk to me regardless of whether I'm busy or not."

Cameron's mouth shifted into a wry smile and she nodded, conceding the point.

"So, what's he said?" she sighed.

Wilson glanced around the foyer, more to give him time to formulate an answer than to ensure their conversation was not being overheard.

"He might have mentioned a few things... you and Chase for example. You've split up?"

"Yes. But it's between me and him and I just don't see why House feels he needs to know why we aren't seeing each other anymore."

Wilson looked at her, almost pityingly.

"You worked with him for how long? Three years and you really think a little thing like it not being his business is going to stop him from doing everything in his power to find out?"

"No. But I had hoped it would. I'm not sure why I thought that now."

"He's not going to give up, you know. He rung me several times last night and I had to listen to his thought processes out loud. I don't know if he's ever made you do that but let me tell you, the train of thought of a misanthropic, Vicodin addict is illogical and deeply confusing. It's really bothering him. You know he hates having a puzzle he can't solve. Why don't you just tell him? It can't be that bad and that way we'd all get some sleep."

"I can't tell him the truth!" Cameron said, thoroughly horrified at the prospect of House finding out about the choice Chase had given her. If House knew she had chosen him over Chase, he would need another office to hold his ego.

Wilson's eyes met her own in an intense stare, clearly noticing her tone and drawing the obvious conclusion that House was in some way involved in the end of Chase and Cameron's relationship.

"Then lie to him." Wilson said simply, deciding not to voice his idea.

"I can't do that either. I can't lie to anyone let alone the human polygraph."

Wilson smiled at this highly accurate description of his friend.

"Good point. I'm not sure what to tell you then. You need to tell him something if only to stop him obsessing about it. So, are you going upstairs?"

"Yes, I'm going to go and check on my patient." They both began walking towards the elevator.

"Oh yes, House mentioned he was helping you on a case."

Cameron nodded as she reached to press the elevator button. "ER couldn't find out what was wrong with him so I asked House for his help."

Wilson nodded and the pair lapsed into companionable silence, each deep in thought.

While Cameron tried to decide what she could possibly say to House about her and Chase, Wilson considered the implications of the conversation they had just had. Cameron seemed desperate to hide the true motives for her break up with Chase from House. Wilson was sure that this proved House's theory that he was part of the reason for Chase and Cameron's break-up. Cameron was right though, House didn't need to know and, Wilson decided, he wasn't going to encourage House's childish investigation into his ex-employee's personal life by telling House of his suspicions.

The elevator arrived and, silently, they both stepped in followed by two other doctors and a health care assistant. The doors closed behind them and the pair began their ascension to their separate destinations.

* * *

With nothing new to note in her patient's condition, Cameron decided her time would be better spent in the ER so spent the next couple of hours treating a variety of emergency patients, including a man who appeared to have had a DIY accident and arrived with a saw embedded in his arm. So it was two hours later that Cameron next stepped out of the elevator and began walking towards Ryan Sherman's room.

"Doctor Cameron!"

Cameron turned around at the sound of her name being called. Another nurse, Hannah Ellis, was hurrying down the hall towards her.

"Hello, Hannah. Is something the matter?"

"I was just about to page you. It's your patient. I was in there checking on him and there's something wrong with his eyes."

Cameron walked quickly into her patient's room, pulling out her opthalmoscope from her lab coat pocket. She offered a quick greeting and moved to stand next to the bed. Bending over she shone the light on the opthalmoscope into his eyes. After a few seconds she switched over and looked into the other eyes. Moving back she addressed the scared man in the bed.

"Mr Sherman, there appears to be some clouding in your corneas which is why you're having difficulty seeing."

"What's going on? Did the tests show anything?"

"Unfortunately all of the tests so far have been negative but that just means we've narrowed down the possibilities. Your heart is still quite weak so try not to worry."

"What about that doctor you were talking about? The diagnosis guy?"

"Doctor House is a world-renowned diagnostician and he is devoting all of his attention to your case. He's an excellent doctor. I'm going to go and see him now and we will decide the next tests. If you need anything at all please talk to a nurse and they will contact me."

Cameron left the room, Hannah remaining behind to soothe the patient and settle him in his bed. Cameron quickly headed towards the elevator, knowing that House would be eager to learn of this new development in the case.

* * *

At that moment House, who had only arrived at the hospital half an hour before, was sat in his office, throwing and catching his oversized grey and red tennis ball and pondering, as he had been for the last two days now, Allison Cameron.

If his suspicions were correct, she had broken up with Chase partly, if not mostly, because of him. Maybe she had told Chase that she still had feelings for him and for that reason they had decided that their relationship could no longer continue. And, if that were the case, it prompted the question of how House felt about her. He found her attractive, sure, but any straight, hot-blooded male who didn't should be immediately certified insane. On the one hand, she was beautiful, clever, pleasant and was more than able to handle his sarcastic barbs; on the other side of the argument she was young enough to be his daughter and maybe a little _too_ nice.

House wondered, not for the first time, why on Earth she had ever had romantic feelings for him. If she had her way, they would have been together long ago. But he had held back. He knew that if she had turned out to be anything like Stacey, he couldn't handle it. If he let himself fall for her only to have her run a mile when they hit a bump in the road, he would be ruined. To have it happen once was a nightmare and had damaged him beyond belief, twice would completely destroy him.

Only when Stacey had left, did House realise how dangerous it was to love somebody. To give your heart and soul completely to another person, to give them power over your entire being, with the ability to break you apart was the biggest risk he had ever undertaken and it wasn't something he was willing to do again without an exceptionally good reason.

Was Cameron that reason?

Through the glass walls of his office he could see all the way down the corridor, so he knew in advance that Cameron was coming to see him. Following her rapidly moving figure with his eyes, House felt the stirrings of something he hadn't felt since Stacey. Alarmed, he pushed it to the back of his mind and stood up. He had to be careful. He wasn't sure how Cameron felt about him and he couldn't risk falling for her and being hurt if it transpired that he was wrong, that she was over him. He walked into the conference room at roughly the same time as she burst through the other door from the corridor.

"Eager to see me, are you?"

"Something's happened to Ryan Sherman. New symptom."

"Yes, I gathered as much. You never moved that fast when you worked here unless you had news... or you'd heard a crying child."

Cameron ignored him, having learnt from past experience that responding would only cause her to be dragged into a battle of wits with him, which she would inevitably lose, thus wasting valuable time and energy.

"Do you want to know or not?"

"Not as much as you want to tell me." House replied, confident, as usual that her desire to help the patient would outweigh her urge to force him to be polite.

Cameron sighed. She had hoped, although hadn't seriously expected, that he would apologise. Accepting the truth in his last statement, she said,

"There's now clouding in his corneas. He could go blind if we don't solve this soon."

House said nothing while he wrote the new symptom on the board. He stepped back from the board and stared at it, twirling the pen in his left hand as he did so.

"So, we have burning hands, heart attack, high blood pressure, skin lesions and clouding in the corneas. Suggestions?"

"Alport Syndrome, maybe?"

"Ok. Kidney biopsy for that..." Here House drew a line down the centre of the board and began to write on the right of the line, "Alport syndrome..." he turned around and looked at her. "Come on, Cameron, more suggestions."

"I don't know. Maybe it's genetic?"

"Right. Well, do a kidney biopsy for Alport syndrome, and a test for genetic diseases that might be possible. Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, Fabry disease and anything else you can think of."

Cameron nodded.

"I'll go and do it now. I'm not needed in the ER for a couple of hours."

"Right. Come back as soon as you find anything." House said and Cameron left the conference room. House stared after her. She didn't look as though she had slept very well; she was paler then usual and he had noticed large bags under her eyes although she had tried to hide them with make-up. Clearly whatever was bothering her yesterday was still weighing heavily on her mind.

House watched the doors of the elevator close behind Cameron before he moved from his position next to the board. Following the path she had taken not a minute previously, he made his way towards the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. Chase was back in the clinic today; he had fallen behind on his hours last week and was now having to put in extra ones to make up the time. House was sure that if he continued to hassle Chase enough, he would tell him what he wanted to know. Chase was like that; he was always cutting corners for an easy life.


	10. Chapter 9

_Hi._

_College started again this week and I've had more work to do than last week, so this chapter was slower at being posted than previous ones. I hope it was worth it and you all enjoy it. Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. I loved reading what you thought._

_Have a fantastic day!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 9._

Chase sat, alone, in exam room four. A particularly quiet morning in the clinic had left him with plenty of time to catch up on his charting and he was finding the task very dull. Glancing up at the clock above the door, Chase scowled when he noticed it was only half past eleven. He felt as though he had been there for hours. He would normally welcome the calmness of an empty clinic, taking the time to do his work in the reception area, talking to other doctors and nurses, but House's new fellows were working in the clinic too, and Chase wanted to be as far away as possible from any reminders of _him_.

He picked up his pen and bent forward over the file on the table, wondering whether Cameron had said anything to House yet or taken any action towards persuading him to be with her.

'_I guess not.'_ Chase thought as the door burst open and House entered. Briefly, Chase considered the possibility of ignoring him, maybe walking out of the open door behind House. This idea was quashed, however, when House pushed the door shut and leant on it, cutting off Chase's escape route.

Chase put his pen down and faced House with a bold stare. Cameron had chosen this man over him and right now he _really_ didn't want to deal with him.

"Leave me alone, House." Chase said brusquely.

"That's not very nice, is it Chase? I'm hurt." House replied, looking anything but hurt.

"I'm not in the mood."

"Too bad. I want answers. What the hell have you done to her?"

"I've not done anything. If anything, she did it to me. It was her decision to make and she made it. Now I'll say it again: Leave me alone."

"If you've not done anything to upset her, why does it look like she didn't sleep at all last night? Why does she seem nervous whenever your name comes up?"

Chase gave a short, humourless laugh.

"Comes up? That's a funny way to put it. Are you sure you weren't harassing her about me? I find it difficult to believe my name would come up unless you deliberately brought it up."

"Something's wrong with her. I want you to tell me what."

"Go away, House."

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"It isn't any of your business!"

"I think it is. Why are you fighting so hard to hide it from me?"

"House, just leave me alone OK?! She chose you!"

There was a short, stunned silence that seemed to swell, filling the room, and Chase felt it almost physically pushing against him.

"What did you say?" House said quietly.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter, House. Please leave me alone."

"No. What did you mean by that, Chase? Tell me."

"She chose you okay? I gave her a choice, and she made it. Congratulations. You win. Now leave me alone." Chase walked over to the clinic door and held it open for House, clearly signalling that he had had enough of this conversation and that House should leave. House stared at Chase for a moment, his mind quickly processing this new information. Slowly, House began to walk towards the open door and through it, not saying another word to Chase. After Chase closed the door behind him, House stood in the cool corridor, thinking over the conversation that had just taken place.

* * *

It was an hour later when Chase, still in a terrible mood, entered the cafeteria. He couldn't believe House's nerve! He and Cameron were over and still House felt the need to rub it in his face when all he wanted was to move on from all that? He wished House would just leave him alone. Cameron had chosen House, Chase didn't want to be a part of it anymore.

His blue eyes narrowed in irritation as he noticed that there were no empty tables. Ordinarily he wouldn't mind joining somebody else, but right now he really would prefer to be alone. Walking towards the food counter, he gritted his teeth as the echoes of House's voice rang in his ears.

_"I want answers."_

_"Something's wrong with her."_

_"Why are you fighting so hard to hide it from me?"_

Chase stopped short at the sight of a brown, wavy-haired woman standing at the counter choosing her lunch. It was the woman from the clinic. He had been intrigued by her words and demeanour and was eager to find out more about her. Figuring now was as good a time as any, he approached the counter and stood behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder and she started in surprise. Spinning on her heel, she surveyed him for a few seconds before 

turning her back to him with a roll of her eyes. Nonplussed by her reaction, Chase was silent for a moment while he gathered himself.

"It's... er... Victoria Tatum isn't it?" Chase asked, much less confident then he had been just a minute ago.

"Yes, it's Doctor Tatum." She faced him and pointedly looked down towards her name tag, obviously unimpressed at his having learnt her name. "And I'm really not in the mood to make idle conversation or to be hit on right now." Once again, she began to turn away from Chase when he put his hand on her shoulder, preventing her from doing so.

"Look, what is your problem? I apologised for running into you yesterday and you have absolutely no reason to be so rude. I've had a bad morning but I didn't come over here and jump at your throat. I tried to be nice; I know it's your first week and you're adjusting to the change, but you shouldn't isolate yourself from people who are just trying to introduce themselves and get to know you."

With that, Chase cast an angry look at her, snatched up a plastic container of pasta from the display case and marched to one of the cashiers, leaving her standing, mouth open, in front of the food counter. He paid for his pasta and sat down at a free table which had been rapidly vacated by two midwives, who had obviously been paged for assistance in a delivery. Sullenly, he pulled the lid off the container and removed the plastic fork from inside the lid. He furiously stabbed at a piece of pasta, but it did nothing to relieve his anger. A small cough alerted him to a woman standing beside him and he looked up into Victoria Tatum's tentatively smiling face.

"Er... is this seat taken?" she asked, pointing to the plastic chair opposite him. Chase shook his head and gestured for her to sit.

She set her tray down and slid into the seat. Chewing, Chase looked down at his pasta.

"I'm sorry." The abruptness of the statement pulled his head up and his eyes met hers. She swallowed and diverted her eyes from his for a moment before looking back at him and continuing. "Look, I've had a really tough morning on top of a terrible week and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. It's not your fault."

Chase nodded, accepting her apology.

"And I'm sorry for knocking you over yesterday. I was in a rush to get to... get _away_ from something." He said.

After a few more seconds of silence in which both doctors smiled timidly at each other, Chase cleared his throat.

"I'm Robert Chase, by the way. Usually, people here call me Chase." He extended his hand, which she took, shaking it and nodding.

"Vikki Tatum."

"So, you want to tell me why your week has been so bad?" Chase took another mouthful of pasta as he watched her carefully. Vikki bit her lip as she tried to think of how to explain.

"First few days in a new place are always a bit overwhelming. I always find it hard to get my bearings. Add that to the fact that I seem to be inexplicably disliked by a few doctors and it gets me quite stressed."

"Which doctors?"

"Just one, really. It was in the clinic yesterday."

Chase's eyes widened slightly, instantly knowing who she was referring to.

"I was standing at the pharmacy waiting for a prescription when he pushed me out of the way and demanded that the pharmacist get him Vicodin. When I told him the pharmacist was helping me he just ignored me like I wasn't even there. I don't know what I did to offend him." Vikki finished her story and started to pick at the sesame seeds on her burger bun. Chase breathed in deeply.

"Did he have a cane?" he asked, already knowing; after all how many other doctors in the hospital were so impolite and addicted to Vicodin?

"Yes! Do you know him?" Vikki asked, head snapping up to look at Chase.

"Everyone knows him. That's Doctor House. He's the Head of Diagnostics and used to be my boss before I joined the surgical team. He's a bitter, twisted misanthrope but, unfortunately, he's part of the furniture. He's got tenure so the best thing you can do is just ignore him. It won't shut him up but he might get bored faster."

Vikki laughed lightly and Chase was surprised to realise just how much he liked hearing her laugh. Her brown eyes looked into his, silently thanking him for his advice as she smiled.

The pair ate their lunch, talking comfortably with each other and by the time they had finished, Chase had made a new friend in Vikki Tatum.

* * *

House pushed open Wilson's door without knocking.

"You won't _believe_ what Chase just told me." House said, without preamble. Wilson looked up, as did the little girl and her mother sat in front of his desk.

"House, I'm with a patient. Either wait outside or if you must stay in here sit down and be quiet for a few minutes." Wilson chided and then added under his breath, "As difficult as that is for you."

House threw himself on the couch and leant forwards, tapping his cane on the floor agitatedly. Wilson addressed the mother and daughter in front of him.

"I'm sorry. My friend has some boundary issues. So, Mrs Simon, it appears that Molly's treatment is... er... is..." Wilson was distracted by House staring at him from behind the woman. It was extremely disconcerting and Wilson fought to keep focussed on Molly Simon's case. "It's going great, and the scans show the tumours have shrunk."

Mrs Simon smiled in relief and Wilson smiled back.

"So, what I think we should do is just continue the way we are and we'll have another meeting in about a month or so. Okay there, Molly?" Wilson asked the little girl who nodded shyly in reply and moved closer to her mother. "Any questions you want to ask?" he spoke to her mother again.

Mrs Simon shook her head and opened her mouth, but before any words could emerge from it, House's voice came from the direction of the couch.

"Yes, Doctor Wilson, I have a question. What do you think Chase-?"

"House," Wilson cut across him, "I'm with a patient. Not now. Go ahead, Mrs Simon."

"No, I don't have any questions. It all sounds okay to me. Are you alright, Molly?" she asked her daughter. Molly nodded and smiled at Wilson.

"Good." Wilson handed Molly's mother an outpatient's card. "Take this down to reception and they'll make another appointment to see me in about a month."

"Thank you Doctor Wilson. Bye. Say thank you, Molly."

"Thank you Doctor Wilson." Molly said quietly.

"Bye Mrs Simon. See you soon, Molly." Wilson said. Molly waved as she and her mother left and Wilson waved until the door shut. Wilson closed the file on his desk, took it over to the filing cabinet and put it away before turning to House.

"Okay. What did you want?"

"Who was that?"

"Molly Simon. She's six and has stomach cancer. Hopefully, she should be fine. Now, what did you want?"

"Chase said something. He said Cameron _chose_ me. So, I'm thinking that he asked her to choose between him and me and she chose me."

"Yes, I was thinking along those lines too." At House's questioning glance, he continued, "I spoke to Cameron this morning. She said a few things that made me think."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to encourage your obsession with this. Anyway, I figured it was only a matter of time before you found out on your own. So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to tell Cameron what you know?"

House thought for a few moments.

"No. Not yet. I need to think about what I'm going to do first."

"What do you mean? Are you considering it? Do you want to be with her?"

"I don't know yet. I need to think."

House stood up suddenly and walked out of Wilson's office towards his own. Wilson allowed himself a small smile as he watched his friend leave. Although he didn't like seeing House this confused; it usually didn't bode well when it happened in cases, Wilson thought Cameron would be good for him and he was glad that the diagnostician was considering reopening that door of his heart that had been locked for so long.


	11. Chapter 10

_Hi everybody._

_Sorry this chapter has taken a bit longer than the previous ones. Had a bit of trouble with part of it. Hope this makes up for it though._

_Have a good day!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 10._

Leaving Wilson's office, House made his way to his own as quickly as his damaged leg would allow. His fellows were all on clinic duty, so he knew he was unlikely to be disturbed; nevertheless, he closed the blinds on the windows and locked the door before sitting down behind his desk. He sat in the dark, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. The pain in his thigh caused him to reach for his Vicodin bottle resting on the table. He flipped the lid off with his thumb and swallowed two of the white pills. As he waited for the painkillers to kick in, he permitted his mind to focus on Cameron.

Beautiful, sweet, intelligent Cameron. It would be a lie to say that he didn't have feelings for her. Whether he wished to act on those feelings was something else entirely.

House's mind mused on the possibility that he had misunderstood. Maybe he had gotten it wrong and she didn't really like him anymore. Maybe she truly was, as she said, 'over' him. Thinking back on his conversations with Chase and, subsequently, Wilson, House knew there was no mistake. Chase had as good as told him that Cameron still had romantic feelings for him and then Wilson's summary of his talk with Cameron had confirmed it. She liked him. He liked her. He just didn't know what to do about it.

Thinking rationally, he and Cameron were just too different to be in a relationship that any serious hope of lasting. Thinking personally, he wasn't sure he was willing to risk it. If he allowed himself to fall for her, make her the singular most important person in his life, things would never be the same. And House hated change.

If – and this was a big 'if' - he did decide to act on it, enter a relationship with her, and he ending up losing her... well, he just couldn't do it. He had already gone through that with Stacey and he had no desire to repeat the unpleasant experience.

For all the poems and prose that had been written centring on the subject of heartbreak, House, for one, couldn't see what it was about that excruciating agony that romantics believed made it poetic, made it worthy to be immortalised in script. The last thing he felt like doing after Stacey left was writing down his personal humiliation for the world to see his weakness. Quite the opposite- instead he had felt like drinking himself into oblivion and shutting out the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, his Vicodin pills (Here, House clenched his fist around the small, yellow bottle) didn't mix with vast quantities of alcohol, so, not wishing to suffer any horrible, painful complications, he contented himself with the pills, hoping the painkillers for his leg would be successful in eliminating the pain in his heart. When one didn't work, he took two, then three, until he found himself in the position of having to admit the truth- he was addicted.

And the pills had failed to make him forget the aching pain in his chest.

House pressed his hands to his eyes and slumped forwards, his elbows sharply coming into contact with the desk, causing a jolt of pain to travel up his arm. Luckily, the Vicodin he had just taken deadened this pain almost immediately.

House rested his forehead atop his folded arms and closed his eyes.

Over the past three years or so, though, he had noticed that the desperate ache didn't seem so unbearable anymore. Little by little, it appeared, his heart was healing. And the times it had felt less painful, he had observed with some interest, and rather a considerable amount of alarm, were the times when Cameron was nearby.

She was his painkiller. She made him forget. And, House realised with a shock that made his stomach plummet, he was just as addicted to her as to his Vicodin.

That fact left him with just two options. The first, and by far the least problematic, was to simply stay away from her. A Cameron detox, if you will. The only problem with that plan was that the thought was unbearable to him. He couldn't stand the idea of not seeing her every day.

The other option, it seemed was his only alternative. He could tell her what he knew about her and Chase, he could tell her that he knew that she still had feelings for him, and he could tell her he felt the same way. The pair of them could be together.

Why did that option appear to be much more difficult and dangerous than the first one?

* * *

Cameron sat up on her stool and stretched. Hearing her back crack she winced; she really shouldn't spend so long hunched over, it wasn't good for her.

She laughed ironically. Since when had something not being good for her stopped her? It hadn't done her any good to marry a dying man but she had done it. It hadn't done her any good to force House to take her on that ill-fated date, but she had done it. A child could have seen that it wasn't a good idea to force him so far out of his comfort zone. He was bound to have reacted badly- House and a restaurant with a dress code just didn't mix. She really shouldn't have been surprised when he bit her head off for trying to delve into his feelings too deeply.

She wouldn't make that mistake again.

If things did work out between her and House, which she sincerely hoped they did, she would be content to just sit with him and watch television. Go somewhere like the monster truck rally again, rather than a stuffy restaurant.

When they had gone to see the monster trucks, he had completely captivated her. He was relaxed, enjoying himself and he was fun to be with. The look on his face when watching the mechanical beasts thundering around the stadium was held in her memory forever. He was like a child, totally absorbed, in awe of his surroundings and, for a moment he was caught up in the charged atmosphere, the contagious excitement of the crowd. He was swept away and nothing else mattered. She had felt truly privileged that he had seen her as worthy to share something he loved. Cameron wanted to make him look like that. She wanted to take his pain away, if only for a second. She wanted him to love her. If only their date had gone as well as that night. If only he hadn't tried so hard to keep her at arm's length.

Cameron sighed and rubbed her eyes behind her black framed glasses. She quickly stopped that train of thought in its tracks. She could drive herself crazy with 'if only'. She had to concentrate on the facts.

Fact: their 'date' could arguably be the biggest disaster of her life.

Fact: He had done everything in his power to keep her from getting close to him.

Fact: She was in love with him.

There. There were the facts.

Now, how was she going to deal with it? She couldn't just tell him that she loved him. The straight-forward approach hadn't really had the best results in the past. She had to persuade him he wanted her, before telling him that she wanted to be with him, too.

Cameron finished setting up the test she was working on and sat motionless for a minute. Rubbing her forehead, she thought for a moment. It would be a while before any of the tests were ready to produce any conclusive results, and she decided to go and work in the ER while waiting.

She stood up from her stool and pulled her glasses off, tucking them safely into her pocket and headed out of the lab into the deserted corridor. Walking into the foyer she saw Chase entering by another corridor. He seemed to have come from the cafeteria and he had a woman with him.

Cameron watched as he walked with the woman to the elevator. Chase said something to her and she laughed. Cameron smiled. It was good to see Chase wasn't brooding. It would have made her feel dreadful if he had spent the next few months moping. As the elevator arrived, the female stepped in and pressed the button inside, still talking to Chase. The doors began to shut and Cameron heard the pair say goodbye.

Once the doors closed, Chase turned around and instantly spied Cameron standing there. He quickly broke eye contact with her and started walking quickly towards the clinic.

_That's strange,_ Cameron thought. It wasn't like him to completely blank her. Even if they were having an argument, he would acknowledge her presence, perhaps nodding to her if he passed. Cameron strode towards him, heading him off just before the entrance to the clinic.

"Chase? Chase?"

He stopped and turned to face her, although she couldn't help noticing he didn't quite meet her eye.

"Hello Cameron. Er... how has your morning been?"

"Fine. Who was that?"

Chase's face relaxed, relieved that she hadn't come to ask him about House. Clearly House hadn't let on about what Chase had told him or Cameron hadn't seen him for a few hours. Either way, Chase seized the opportunity to start a conversation which was not about the diagnostician.

"Her name's Vikki Tatum. She's a pathologist and she started working here last week. I've just been welcoming her to the hospital." Chase answered eagerly.

"That's nice of you." Cameron still couldn't shake off the feeling that Chase wasn't meeting her gaze. "What's she like?"

"Great. Really friendly. She was a bit short with me at first but that was my fault and we've sorted it out now."

Cameron frowned slightly as Chase looked towards the clinic. His eyes darted around as she watched and she got the impression he was quite keen to be away from her. She had to admit, she was quite hurt that he wasn't making any effort to keep the conversation going. She had hoped that they could remain friends, but it appeared he wasn't really interested.

"Well, I... er... I'd better go. Patients to see, you know." Chase laughed awkwardly and reached out an arm to push open the clinic door. On an impulse, Cameron grabbed his forearm, stopping him from going in.

"Chase, please. Look at me."

He did so, reluctantly. The look in his eyes was difficult to place, it threw her off. She had expected to see anger, or sadness, but to her surprise the predominant emotion in the blue depths was... What _was_ that? She wasn't sure. She shook it off, bringing herself back to the matter at hand.

"What's wrong? You said you would be okay with my choice. Has something changed since this morning?"

Chase flushed slightly, a rose hue creeping up from his collar, a sure sign he was flustered.

"No. No, everything's fine, Cameron. You chose House and I can accept that. I'm a grown man, and I will get over it. Nothing's wrong, Cameron." He looked into her eyes and Cameron noticed that the unrecognisable emotion was more prominent than ever. Smiling in what he clearly intended to be a reassuring way, but which, to Cameron, looked slightly manic and frightening. "It's fine." He repeated.

Cameron nodded slowly, not quite believing him but releasing his arm all the same, and watched him disappear into the clinic. She turned away and headed in the direction of the ER lost in thought.


	12. Chapter 11

_Hello everybody._

_I know that this chapter has taken the longest to add since I began this story. It is, however, longer than the previous ones so I hope that makes up for it._

_As always, thanks to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you think and it's great to read all the comments._

_Hope you enjoy this chapter and that you didn't mind the wait too much. Have a great weekend!  
_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 11._

A few hours and a paranoid mother (who refused to believe her child did not have meningitis, despite the fact that the young boy had none of the symptoms) later, Cameron returned to the lab to see the results of the tests. Having three years of experience as House's subordinate, dealing with some very complex and unusual cases had, however, taught her not to get her hopes up too high.

She sat down on the stool and rolled it over to the computer table, pulling her glasses out of the top pocket on the left side of her lab coat as she went. Glancing at the screen where the results were displayed she leant forward as she noticed something. She doubled checked the results on the screen before leaning back, feeling something akin to relief.

They had solved the puzzle.

She quickly checked her watch. Twenty-five past four. She determined that she had plenty of time to go and tell House and start Ryan Sherman's treatment before going home for the day.

Cameron hit a few keys on the keyboard of the computer to print out the page. She tapped her foot impatiently as the printer whirred into life, ejecting the paper a millimetre at a time, transferring ink onto the white sheet of paper. The moment it was finished, she snatched the completed form out of the printer tray and all but ran from the lab, eager to tell House the results and, she had to admit, just to see him again.

She stopped in front of the elevator and quickly slid through the doors, which were in the process of closing, greeting the three other occupants of the elevator with a smile as the doors finished closing. She pressed the button for House's floor to go and tell him the news before starting the patient on the correct treatment course.

The elevator, far too slowly for her liking, began to ascend, stopping at each floor to let medical professionals and patients on and off. Cameron fidgeted in agitation, her eyes fixed on the illuminated digits above the doors, watching them slowly creep upwards. Finally the elevator arrived at House's floor and she left the elevator immediately, heading as quickly as possible towards House's office.

She glanced sideways into the conference room and noticed, with slight surprise, that it was empty again. She knew that House's new fellows were on clinic duty again, but she had thought he would be sat in there in their place. She entered the spacious area and looked towards House's office. The blinds were closed and Cameron's brow creased in confusion. He hardly ever shut the blinds, even if he was not in there. The only occasions she could recall were times when he wished to be left alone, or the unforgettable incident when he gave himself a migraine just to make a point. Seeing as he had no reason (that she knew of) to do that again, she judged that he must be sitting alone thinking.

She thought for a moment before deciding to knock on the door. He might not want any social visits, but this was for a good reason. It would only take a minute and, she reasoned, he _did_ say to tell him as soon as she found out anything. For all his declarations that he didn't care about the patient's he treated, he always wanted to be the first to know of any developments. Cameron knew that deep down he did care, he just didn't like people to know it. He would want to know the solution to this latest puzzle.

So, she stepped forwards and knocked on the closed door to his office. She heard someone shuffling around inside and, a few seconds later, the door swung open. House stared at her, silently, then stepped back, allowing her to move into the darkened office.

"I... er... I have news." Cameron said, holding out the printed form. Wordlessly, House took it from her and glanced down at it. His eyebrows rose infinitesimally as he looked at the paper, betraying a small amount of surprise at the result. The movement was so slight that if she hadn't happened to be looking directly at his face, Cameron would have missed it entirely.

House inhaled, preparing to start his next remark and looked away from the paper, up into her face. The words were stolen from his mouth though as their eyes met, drawn together by an irrepressible magnetic force. As the ice blue orbs bored into her own, Cameron found herself in a similar predicament as House.

Externally frozen, everything inside her seemed to be racing at twice its usual rate. Blood pounded through her veins, causing a heat to rise in her face, her heart rate increased and she was sure that, if he chose to inspect her closely enough, he could see the pulse point twitching frantically in her neck. Fortunately for her, though, he was not looking at her neck. Instead his eyes were locked to hers and neither of them seemed to have the necessary key to break their gazes.

For a few seconds which felt like much longer, and during which several inexpressible things seemed to pass between them, neither spoke. Then House, invisibly shaking himself and with considerable effort, tore his eyes from those of the young woman standing before him. Purely to give him something else to focus on, he crossed to his desk and retrieved the tennis ball, which he began to throw up into the air and catch. Cameron, still dazed, could not collect her scattered mind sufficiently to form a comprehensible utterance. It fell to House then who, clearing his throat, continued as though the tension filling the room had evaporated, or had been a figment of her imagination.

"You know what to do then. Put him on enzyme replacement straight away and explain. Then, in a couple of days, he can go home." House caught the ball and his gaze moved up once more, staring at her intensely.

Cameron shifted in place, obviously uncomfortable with being scrutinised so closely. Her feelings were complicated enough without him deciding to gaze at her so candidly. If she wasn't careful, things would spiral out of control. She couldn't afford to let him see the effect he had on her, couldn't let him guess how deep her feelings for him still ran. If he did, Cameron knew, he would regard her as the same foolish little girl with a bizarre crush on an authority figure. She couldn't bear it if he reverted to treating her like a ridiculous child. She quickly broke the silence with a question that had been bothering her since she arrived.

"Okay. I'll do that. Er..." she paused, thinking how to phrase the question, "Why were you sat in the dark?"

"I wasn't. The blinds just happened to be closed as I sat in here. I couldn't be bothered opening them."

"The blinds were closed. You never close them, and you wouldn't leave them closed without a reason."

"I didn't want them," House jerked his head in the direction of the conference room and she took it to mean he was referring to his new fellows, "disturbing me. It's probably not as dramatic as the reason you had concocted in your head, but it has the advantage of being true. I just wanted to be by myself for a while. Is that so difficult to believe?" he finished, his eyes warning her to stop asking now. Cameron was not satisfied and carried on, heedless to his eyes cautioning her.

"But..." she stopped abruptly as House moved, surprisingly quickly to the glass wall between his office and the conference room and pulled at the blind cord. The blinds clattered upwards, hitting the glass so that Cameron winced at the unpleasant noise. He moved to the next set and yanked on that cord too, continuing until all the windows were uncovered. Light flooded into the office as House turned to face her.

"There! Happy now? They're open."

Cameron was silent, slightly shocked at his sudden movement. She stared at him, totally bewildered and House rolled his eyes at her bemused expression.

"Are we done here? Because the patient's probably waiting to hear from you. You know, it being his health we're dealing with."

Cameron nodded and shook herself out of her pseudo-paralysis, something she seemed to be experiencing a lot of recently. Something about House just threw her off. She continued to be dragged into the power he exuded, drowning in the overwhelming strength of her feelings when near to him. He pulled her into a whirlwind, shook her whole being, turned her world and her mind upside down, before setting her down, dazed and disoriented. He disrupted her thought process, so much so that she marvelled at her ability to form a coherent sentence when he was close to her.

House looked pointedly towards the door but said no more, prompting her without words. She walked falteringly towards the door, somewhat out of sorts. She hesitated at the door and then decided against saying anything more. She exited, leaving House standing alone in the office, watching her retreating back, his eyes carefully hiding the yearning he felt inside.

* * *

"Mr Sherman? I have excellent news." Cameron said as she closed the door to the patient's room, smiling.

"You know what's wrong with me?" Ryan Sherman asked. "What is it?"

"The tests show that you have Fabry disease. It's a rare genetic disorder and it means that your body can't break down fats. It accounts for all of your symptoms, which are due to a lack of a certain enzyme. It's more common in men, and usually develops in childhood or adolescence, but it's not unheard of in older men." Cameron explained.

"So that's it? What was it... Fabry disease? Is it... is it cureable?"

"Fabry disease, yes. Unfortunately there isn't a cure, but it can be treated with enzyme replacement." Cameron smiled kindly to reassure Ryan Sherman, who was staring at his hands on top of the blanket, seemingly deep in thought.

"Fabry disease," he repeated quietly, almost to himself. "I've never even heard of it."

"Well, like I say, it's rare. But by no means does it have to affect your life in any big way. You will need regular enzyme replacement but other than that, your life should be normal."

"So that's it? I'm not going to die?" he asked, looking up at her in amazement. "It was that simple?"

Cameron nodded again and reached down to squeeze his hand, which was still resting on the blanket. His face broke into a relieved smile. "Thank you doctor. And please thank that other doctor- Doctor House- for me." Cameron consented, deciding not to mention that House would be claim himself to be unmoved by a patient's gratitude. She left the room, passing the patient's file to a nurse on the way past. The nurse would start the treatment, putting Ryan Sherman on an IV drip with the correct enzyme.

Upon entering the elevator, Cameron pressed the button for the ground floor, as she had nothing else to do today, and she had put in enough hours for now. She decided against going back upstairs to convey the patient's thanks to House. After all, House was House. He neither needed nor desired any thanks or recognition for having done his job. In fact, Cameron had noticed, it seemed to make him distinctly uncomfortable. She had never understood this part of him. Personally she loved that part of the job, loved knowing she had made a difference in the lives of the patients that passed through.

Some would mistake his dismissing his patients as soon as they were healthy as absolute proof of House's coldness and disdain for other human beings rather than what it really was- he was simply uncomfortable with expressions of emotion, having learned through bitter experience that emotions could quickly turn sour. Loving Stacy had ended up breaking his heart. He had trusted her to follow his wishes and she had betrayed him, waiting until he was unconscious before making her own decision and condemning him to a life of pain. It was only natural that he would think twice before trusting any display of emotion.

Cameron knew that, although he treated his patients as items on a production line, objects to be fixed up and sent out and nothing more, he loved his job and genuinely cared about the patients that came under his care. Maybe he wouldn't send them a Christmas card, but he definitely didn't want them to die.

As to him being cold, well, that was a matter of opinion. Maybe he did act that way sometimes, maybe he could treat a person who was aggravating him with a manner so icy that it could rival the climate of the Antarctic. He could act cold, hard and tempestuous when the situation called for it but Cameron realised there was something deeper there.

Her cheeks flushed with heat as she remembered kissing him in his office. There was no way she could mistake him for cold after she had kissed him. Despite his constant insistences that he was not interested, he certainly hadn't pushed her away. In fact, he seemed to welcome it, kissing her back without hesitation, deepening the kiss, his presence pulling her in, almost making her forget her 'mission'. The kiss may have been initiated under false pretences, but Cameron definitely didn't regard it as a mistake.

There had been other methods of extracting blood from him. It wasn't strictly necessary to take such a personal approach, invading House's personal space and breaking down the barrier between the pair of them, which had been so painstakingly constructed by House over the years, but she had been curious. She had started something that day, something that even now was continuing, just below the surface, fuelled with every flirtatious look, every loaded word that passed between them. After the atmosphere in his office and the intensity of his eyes, something inside her said that whatever was going on was reaching fever pitch, and it wouldn't be long before the lake of suppressed emotions underlying their relationship overflowed. Furthermore, Cameron was positive that the results would be spectacular.

* * *

Chase left the building, breathing a sigh of relief for not having run into Cameron again that afternoon. The last time he had seen her, he had felt awful. House would more than likely be insufferable towards her now that he knew her past feelings were still present and as strong as ever.

When House had come to see him, Chase had not had any intentions of inflating the diagnostician's already swollen ego, but House – his jibes, his superior attitude, his very _presence_ – had irritated Chase. He had hated how House had acted so protectively about Cameron, almost possessively. House had acted like Cameron was his and he had a right to know everything about her. This wasn't particularly annoying in itself, but then the realisation hit that Cameron _was_ House's. Even when she had been going out with Chase, she had still belonged to House; in her mind she had never let go of him. It had angered Chase that he had never really had Cameron. In his rage he had just blurted it out, his mind losing control of his mouth and letting the words spill out. He had simply given House exactly what he wanted, just as he always had done.

Chase groaned, annoyed with himself. He had thought he had grown out of that. One thing was for sure- he definitely didn't relish the moment when Cameron found out.

Chase climbed into his car, and started the engine, noticing Cameron coming out of the entrance of the hospital. Quickly he averted his gaze and ducked his head, hoping to avoid being seen and pulled out of the space. Glancing in the rear view mirror, he saw her reach her car and open the car door. Chase looked back at the road, guilt rising up again as he left the hospital for the night.

Just ahead of him, Chase noticed a woman walking along the pavement alone. As he drove past her, he noticed that it was Vikki Tatum, clearly heading home for the night as well. He quickly pulled up next to the pavement and waited for her to catch up with him. When she did, he pressed a button and the window on the passenger side rolled down automatically and leaned over to talk to her. She bent down, puzzled until she saw him in the driver's seat, at which point she smiled.

"Thank God it's you. I thought it might have been somebody asking for directions. I'm sick of having to say 'I don't know- I just moved here' and having them look at me like I'm a moron." Vikki said in her soft, British accent.

"They're the ones who are lost. If you're a moron, what does that make them?" Chase replied, returning her smile.

"Exactly." Vikki nodded and laughed slightly.

"Are you on your way home?" Chase asked her, cursing himself for asking such an obvious question even as the words left his mouth. When she nodded he continued, "Do you want a lift anywhere?"

"No, it's not far, really. I'll walk." She said after a short hesitation.

"Look, I'm not some kind of crazy stalker, I swear. I'll keep both hands on the wheel at all times. I don't want you to be walking around on your own." Chase said. Vikki looked at him for a moment. "Come on, Vikki. I'll drive you home." He finished. Vikki nodded her agreement and opened the door. As she slid into the passenger seat she smiled again.

"Thanks. My car's being fixed. I'm getting it back tomorrow." Vikki explained as Chase moved back into the lane of traffic.

"What's wrong with it?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I was a bit over-enthusiastic with the brakes, I'm afraid. I think I must've slammed on them too hard too many times. They're not really very good anymore so the garage is fixing them up for me. I think if I took my test again now, I'd struggle to pass. I had to do the test three times over to get my license."

Chase laughed. "What happened?"

"First time I nearly ran into the back of another guy's car and the instructor had to brake for me. The second time I forgot to put the handbrake on when I parked on a hill and the car rolled backwards and nearly hit an old lady. Apparently almost killing somebody is an instant fail."

"I can't imagine why." Chase grinned. "Which way?" he asked as he reached a junction.

"Left, please." Vikki said and Chase turned down the road.

"Are you working tomorrow?" Chase asked his companion after a minute of comfortable silence.

"Yes." Vikki nodded as she replied.

"If you want, I'll drive you in. You're picking your car up tomorrow night, right?"

"After work, yes. I wouldn't want you to go out of your way like that. Turn right in a minute."

"It's not a problem. I enjoy company in the car." Chase said, turning as instructed and neglecting to mention that only a few days ago said company had taken the form of Allison Cameron.

"Are you sure?" Vikki asked, turning her head to look Chase's profile.

"Yes. It's not a problem." Chase repeated, quickly glancing at her and smiling.

"Thanks." Vikki said as Chase returned his gaze to the road. "I live just along here." She pointed at a House on the right side of the road and Chase pulled up to the kerb. "Thanks for the lift."

"It was my pleasure. I'll see you tomorrow morning, then." Chase replied as she opened the door and stepped out into the quiet street.

"Okay, then. Bye." Vikki closed the car door behind her and waved as she walked up the path to her house. Chase waited until she had opened the door and stepped in before driving off, heading for home.

* * *

Several hours later Cameron sat up in bed, eyes wide, instantly awake. In a sudden flash of absolute certainty, it had come to her. Her stomach turned itself upside down as she thought about the look in Chase's eyes earlier on.

Guilt.


	13. Chapter 12

_Hi everybody,_

_Thanks so much for all the fantastic reviews. I love reading them so much._

_Here's the next chapter and it's the longest yet. Hope you have a great day!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 12._

The sound of the phone ringing next to his head yanked Chase sharply from his slumber. He was immediately alert and had grabbed the phone from the hook before it had completed its second shrill ring. Assuming it was the hospital –after all who else would ring him in the middle of the night- and that there was some kind of emergency, he answered, as professionally as he could after being awoken so abruptly.

"Robert Chase."

"What did you do?" Cameron's voice demanded, without preamble.

"Cameron? What... Do you know what time it is?" Chase asked, evading her question.

"Is your clock broken? It's twenty-five to three. Now- what the _hell_ have you done, Chase?"

"Cameron, I was sleeping. Couldn't this have waited?"

"I honestly don't care if you were sleeping. Because of you, I'm not asleep so it's only fair I return the favour. You see, I've got a strange suspicion that you have, in some way, screwed me over. I'm going to ask again. _What did you do?_"

"I don't know what you mean, Cameron." Chase said, the knot of guilt in his stomach twisting painfully. He hadn't wanted to hurt her.

"You know exactly what I mean. You looked guilty when I saw you today. Do you know why people sometimes look guilty, Chase? It's usually because they are. So what are you guilty of?" Cameron's voice shook with poorly suppressed anger and frustration, as panic rose up inside of her. She thought she could probably guess what he was hiding, or at least knew who the third person it concerned was. There was a silence over the line that pressed heavily on her eardrums. Finally he spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Cameron." Chase said quietly and Cameron felt as though something heavy had hit her square in the chest. "I'm sorry. It just... it just came out. He was getting to me. I didn't mean..."

"You told him what I said?" Cameron interrupted, needing to know the answer while aware that it would not be what she wanted to hear.

"I told him you chose him over me. I..."

"When?" Cameron was not interested in his attempts to apologise. House knew how she still felt about him. She needed to know when he had found out. She needed to know if he had known the last time she had seen him.

"In the morning. Cameron..."

"Before I spoke to you?"

"Yes. Allison, I..." Chase was cut off as Cameron slammed the phone down. She stood motionless by her bedside table, upon which the phone sat. She forced herself to breathe deeply to calm herself and fight the multitude of overwhelming emotions filling her body.

She was furious with Chase for telling House. Even if he was upset and hurt with her choosing House, she never thought he would betray her like that. Confusion was the second most prominent emotion she was experiencing. If Chase had told House this morning then that meant that he had known the last time she had spoken to him- when she had told him of the results of the tests. Why hadn't he said anything? Was that the reason he had been looking at her so oddly?

There was a faint glimmer of hope at the back of her mind, growing stronger, despite telling herself not to think too much of it. If he hadn't said something, hadn't immediately and bluntly told her that he wasn't interested and never would be did that mean that he harboured some kind of feelings for her as well? It hadn't bothered him before to tell her flat out that he didn't like her and that nothing was going to happen between him. He had always been honest with her, no matter how hard the truth may have hit her. Even in his wounding rejections though, there had been a note of kindness and consideration to her feelings. He wasn't stringing her along, pretending to feel something he didn't which would have ultimately hurt her more in the long run. He certainly had no qualms about turning her down.

So something must have changed. Something must have shifted between them. Deep inside her the spark of hope, fuelled by these thoughts, burned on, refusing to be extinguished.

Cameron turned off her bedside lamp and climbed under the duvet once more. She did not close her eyes though, knowing that sleep would not come even if she did, and lay for a long time staring up through the darkness at her bedroom ceiling. Her stomach tightened almost painfully as she thought about the task ahead. She had to talk to House. The resulting conversation could only have two possible outcomes. Either he would admit that he liked her and that he wanted to give a relationship a try, in which case she would finally be with the man who had been present in her dreams for three years now or he would permanently destroy her hopes for the pair of them.

Cameron rolled over, buried her head in the pillow and groaned at the thought. God, she hoped he didn't do that. She didn't want to be hurt like that again. It was now or never. If he turned her down this time, she wouldn't try again. She had to keep some dignity.

* * *

The next morning Chase arrived, as arranged, at Vikki's house. He hadn't slept particularly well after Cameron's phone call and was dreading seeing her today. What would he say to her? How would she act around him? He climbed out of the car and started up the path to the house deciding as he went that he would let Cameron's behaviour guide his own. If she wanted to talk, he would, if she wanted to yell, he'd take it and if she wanted to ignore him completely then he wouldn't bother her.

Chase pushed his finger into the button next to the door and heard the bell ringing inside the house. He waited for Vikki to answer the door, looking around absent-mindedly, not taking anything in. The door in front of him opened and he looked up, fully expecting to see Vikki in the doorway. Instead a tall man of medium build stood, wearing a navy blue suit and glasses. His hair was dark, and his eyes were a light green colour. One hand, in which he held a slice of toast, made a circular motion in time with his chewing, clearly communicating that he would wait until he had finished his mouthful before speaking. He swallowed, probably before he should have, as Chase noticed a grimace as did so caused by the toast sticking slightly in his throat. After that pain had passed, however, the man smiled at Chase.

"Hi. You Doctor Chase? Vikki said you were giving her a lift today. She's just getting her bag."

Chase nodded, covering his surprise that he, and not Vikki, had answered the door.

"Yeah I am. It's... er... It's nice to meet you." He extended his hand in a polite gesture and the man took it.

"Likewise. Vikki was very complimentary about you last night. Said you were very friendly and made her feel comfortable for the first time since she arrived at the hospital." The man then seemed to realise he hadn't introduced himself. "Sorry, I'm Michael Chapman."

"Robert Chase."

At that moment, Vikki appeared in the hall behind Michael. She wore a light blue blouse with black pants and her hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head.

"Hi, Chase. Thanks so much for this. I really appreciate it." She pulled her coat off a hook in the hallway and hurried down the hall to where the two men stood. She gave Michael a quick, one armed hug which he returned, holding the buttery toast away from her hair and clothes. Vikki pulled her coat on as she exited the house, joining Chase in the doorstep. "I'll see you tonight, Michael. What time will you be back?"

"Depends. I'm hoping for an early finish but it all depends on how quickly we can divide the assets. The husband hasn't been wonderfully co-operative so far. I shouldn't be too late, though. Anyway, have a good day at work. It was nice to meet you Doctor Chase."

As Vikki and Chase walked down the path towards the car, Michael closed the door behind them. Chase wanted to ask who Michael was but didn't feel he knew her well enough to be prying into her life just yet. He felt oddly disappointed. Vikki was interesting and kind and Chase had begun thinking of her as a person he could form a relationship with. Obviously that was not going to happen if she was living with someone else. Her left hand was ring-less so he assumed they were not married or engaged, although it was possible that she just didn't wear a ring to work to avoid it getting damaged or dirty. They did not kiss each other goodbye when she left, but then maybe that was because she was in a rush. He thought Michael was probably Vikki's boyfriend, although the term seemed ridiculous to apply to somebody over the age of fourteen.

"Er... good morning." Chase said, not entirely sure how to act around her, worried that his behaviour last night and his comments to her might have been seen as flirtatious and not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

"Good morning. Are you alright?" Vikki asked, concerned at his obvious discomfort.

"I'm fine. Michael seems nice. What does he do?"

"Divorce lawyer. It's a shame because it's kind of made him jaded about the whole concept of marriage. He firmly believes that no marriage ever works. Yeah he is nice, though. He's a friend of my brother's. They used to go to school together and Michael moved out here after university. When I got a job at Princeton-Plainsboro he was nice enough to let me move in with him."

Chase unlocked the car and they both climbed in. He felt hopeful at this last bit of information and decided to just ask her what he wanted to know. "So he's not your boyfriend or anything?" he asked as he started the car.

"What? No. No, he's not. I don't have a boyfriend. Michael's just a mate. Growing up he was more like another brother to me. Dan's six years older than me and Michael's the same age as him. They both looked after me and played with me, which can't have been much fun for them."

Chase nodded and drove in silence for a couple of minutes. "What time you picking your car up?"

"Straight after work. It's in the garage down the road from the hospital."

"I know the one you mean. It's quite a walk. If you want I can drive you down there and wait with you until it's ready."

"Chase, you barely know me. Why would you want to keep doing me all these favours?"

"I think of you as my friend. I help my friends. Do you want me to drive you down tonight?"

Vikki nodded. "Thanks. I always feel like they're ripping me off if I go in by myself. If I have a guy with me, they always assume that they must know a lot about cars and don't charge me as much. I would've asked Michael but he's got a busy day today and he won't be out in time."

"It's not a problem. I'll meet you in front of the hospital at the end of the day, then?" Chase said as he pulled into the car park in front of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

"Sure," Vikki said. "Thanks a lot, Chase. I appreciate it."

"No problem." He parked the car and they both got out. They walked to the entrance together before going their separate ways to their respective departments- Chase to Surgery and Vikki to Pathology.

* * *

Meanwhile Cameron had already arrived at the hospital and was currently in the E.R. treating a man who had somehow managed to stand on a rusty four inch nail that had driven itself deep into his foot. He screamed in pain once more and Cameron winced, a headache forming behind her eyes. She had gotten very little sleep last night and none at all since she had hung up on Chase. She was dreading seeing House or Chase today, knowing that either encounter would be stressful and awkward.

She was more concerned about seeing House, not knowing how to act around him now he was aware of her feelings. She couldn't put it off forever though. It simply wasn't practical to duck behind desks and hide behind corners whenever she saw him coming. After thinking about it all morning, and for most of the night, she had decided that sooner was better than later. She needed to talk to him and soon. Much longer and she wouldn't be able to make herself out of fear of what he would say. She couldn't dwell on it much longer. She would speak to House as soon as he came in which, Cameron determined after looking at the clock, wouldn't be for about an hour yet. He was never one for punctuality and very rarely arrived before ten, especially if he didn't have a case that required his attention.

Deciding it would be best for her sanity, Cameron tried not to think about House, at least until she was on her way up to see him. Approximately ten seconds after she made this resolution, she gave up on it.

* * *

An hour later, House clattered into his office, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and throwing it sideways onto the chair as he made his way towards the desk.

"Ow! House, watch what you're doing with that."

House looked around and saw that Wilson was sat in the chair, rubbing his left arm where the bag had hit him. The bag had fallen onto the floor next to him.

"What are you doing in here Wilson?"

"I like the ambience and your friendly, welcoming nature." Wilson replied, his face dead-pan. House looked away, trying to hide a reluctant smile. "You didn't answer your phone last night."

"Didn't feel like talking to anybody. Especially if it involved, as I suspected it would with you, talking about things that I haven't got my head around yet."

"You mean Cameron? Haven't you decided what you want to do yet?" Wilson asked. House sat in the chair behind his desk and looked at his friend, carefully formulating an answer before opening his mouth.

"She was here yesterday. Came to tell me her patient had Fabry disease. I couldn't focus with her here. Every time I looked at her I struggled to remember what I was saying. I couldn't think. Why would I want to put myself through that? Why would I willingly lose control?"

"Because you want to. You like the feeling when you're around her. You might feel out of control but you know Cameron would never let you lose yourself. She likes you too much the way you are, God knows why. Thinking logically, there's very little chance of you being hurt, at least to begin with. She likes you and you know from talking to Chase that she would not object to starting some kind of relationship with you. You like her, she likes you. Doesn't seem like there's much in the way."

"Why are you trying so hard to persuade me?"

"She'd be good for you House. You know she would. She isn't like Stacy- it wouldn't be a parasitic relationship like it was with her. Think about it." Wilson got up from the chair and headed towards the door to the corridor. At the door he paused then turned around to face his friend again. "Not that you need to. We both know that you've already decided. It's your last chance. You aren't stupid enough to let it pass again." With that he turned and left. House leaned back in his chair, spinning his cane in his hand, deep in thought.

He looked into the conference room at his three new fellows. He had been reluctant to hire new employees- the loss of the previous three had hit him harder than he thought it would. Cameron's departure more than the other two had caused a pain in his chest which he was sure was not totally due simply losing an excellent doctor from his team. That feeling had confused and frightened him, two emotions that he did not experience often and so he pushed them to the back of his mind, hoping that he would forget about them soon enough.

His team were sat around the table talking and the sight disconcerted him. The room didn't look right without Cameron in it.

Nothing seemed right without Cameron around.

House pushed himself up with his cane and quickly made his way to the door between the office and the conference room. Opening it he leaned through and addressed the people on the other side. "Go and do something. Anything but sit here." At their questioning looks he continued, "I'm tired of looking at you. Go and do clinic duty, help in the ER, anything. Just go and do something." Without giving the occupants of the conference room time to respond he went back into his office and settled himself back in his chair.

House watched the new diagnostic team leave the room casting backwards glances at him over their shoulder. Observing their progress to the elevator, he sat up as he saw the doors to the elevator open and Cameron step out.

Quickly he looked down at his desk, not wanting to be caught looking at her should she glance towards his office. Roughly ten seconds later he heard the door open and Cameron stood in the doorway, appearing somewhat nervous as she met his eyes and stepped forwards into the cool interior. Just inside the office she stopped apparently unsure of what to do or say next. House, perceptive as always, picked up on this and his quick mind was immediately curious.

"Has the patient been discharged?" he asked, observing her closely for any clues.

"This morning." Cameron replied, nodding.

"What's up with you?" House asked, studying her face. She looked almost frightened. Then, in case she began to wonder about this uncharacteristic concern on his part, "You look like somebody just told you that unless you solved an extremely large Rubik's cube, all the kiddies in the world would contract a serious and painful illness."

"Why would that happen?" Cameron asked and House shrugged at the question.

"Didn't say it was likely to happen. I just said that I imagine you'd look like you do now if it did happen. Look, my analogies aren't going to work if you question the likelihood of them happening. Besides it being time consuming, it would be very boring to explain them all." There was a beat of silence after this statement during which Cameron gave a small nod, signifying her agreement to this last point. She steeled herself, knowing that she had to say something. She had to know- she couldn't wait any longer or she'd pass out from the overwhelming intensity of her anxiety.

"You spoke to Chase." The words spilled out of her mouth of their volition. It wasn't a question. House rested his cane against his desk slowly, buying himself time to think and leant backwards. He had _not _been expecting that. Not knowing how to respond he settled for fixing her with an intense gaze and saying nothing. The young woman in front of him shifted uncomfortably. "Well?" she prompted to break the silence.

"Well what? I wasn't aware it was a question. What's the point of denying it?"

Cameron clenched her eyes shut to block out the image of him sitting behind his desk. It was irritating to her that he seemed so at ease when she felt rather jumpy and slightly sick. 

"Damn it House, why can't you answer me properly? Do you have to make everything so bloody difficult?" She mentally rolled her eyes. Of course he did. She found that childish quality was, God help her, endearing sometimes. Now was not one of those times.

"What do you want me to say? Yes, I spoke to Chase and yes, he told me that you have feelings for me. I also just want to point out that Chase caved remarkably quickly for a man who has spent a lot of time this week telling me that he wouldn't say anything, that he wouldn't let you down, that it didn't concern me. Are you sure that's the kind of guy you want to be with?"

"No. That's the whole point. He isn't." Cameron met his eyes for a moment and felt instantly warmer as his piercing eyes stared into hers. A few seconds later though, House broke their gazes and Cameron was left feeling bereft and sadness welled up inside her. He wasn't looking at her. He didn't want her.

Cameron desperately willed herself not to let the tears spill over, not wanting to reinforce his idea of her as a silly adolescent. She swallowed and House continued staring at the wooden grain of the desk in front of him.

"So that's my answer then. I'm sorry I brought this up again." Cameron said before turning around. She needed to get out before she made an even bigger idiot of herself.

It was finally over.

The complicated dance they had been performing for over three years was over. She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't continue putting herself through it. Cameron took a deep breath, trying to suck the courage to leave into her lungs.

She began walking towards the door. When she was only a couple of feet from it, she felt a strong hand grip her upper right arm and swing her around. House had silently approached her from behind and was now standing just inches away from her.

"House, what..." Cameron started but she didn't get the chance to finish because his lips were on hers, his mouth pressed firm against her own. House's arm slid from her arm to around her waist and his other hand gripped his cane as though it was the only thing holding him upright. Cameron's thoughts dissolved. House was here, he was kissing her and nothing else mattered.


	14. Chapter 13

_Hello, everybody! Hope you're all having a fantastic day._

_Thank you all so much for the amazing response I got in reviews for the last chapter. It was amazing to read that people liked it and I gave me a huge smile all day. I got some very odd looks._

_Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, which is slightly longer than the last one. Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 13._

House's usually quick mind ground to a halt the moment his lips touched Cameron's. Where was he again? Did it matter? No, it didn't matter. It wasn't important. It was, however, vitally important that Cameron did not leave this office thinking that he didn't have feelings for her. As she had turned away from him he had stood up from his chair, seizing his cane. She was walking towards the door. He couldn't let her leave. If she left then he had lost his last chance. That was how he came to be in the situation he was in- stood, in the middle of his office with his lips pressed to those of a beautiful woman several years his junior, in plain view of anybody passing the office and honestly not caring one iota. Let them see. Let everybody see. Especially the male workers of the hospital. Maybe then they'd stay away from her.

Cameron, clearly getting over her initial shock from being kissed by her usually emotionally repressed ex-boss, lifted her arms and wrapped them around his back. She kissed him back eagerly; her lips moving over his own and he pulled her closer. He deepened the kiss and met her eyes. The emotion he beheld there made his heart beat faster and a warm feeling radiated through his body, starting from his chest and reaching the tips of his extremities. Cameron was experiencing similar feelings. She could see affection in his eyes and happiness swelled in her chest at the thought that it was her that inspired this caring in him. His touch was tender and his kiss as good as she remembered.

Finally they broke apart. Neither knew how long it had been and neither cared. They looked into each other's eyes, savouring the moment until House took a step backwards, adjusting his balance to ease the ache in his leg that was quickly becoming more painful. He dragged his eyes away from her wide-eyed gaze to locate the orange Vicodin bottle resting on his desk. He rested his cane in the crook of his arm as he emptied two of the white pills onto his palm before swallowing them quickly. After doing this he looked back up to find Cameron's eyes still fixed on his face now with a question clearly written in the captivating blue. She was clearly waiting for him to speak. She wanted him to explain. He turned away to buy himself time and walked around the desk, leaning heavily on his cane as he went, and sat down on his chair. He settled himself, still not looking at her, finding it was easier to think when he was looking at something else.

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth. A dozen responses ran through his mind and in a split second he had dismissed them all. Too cutting, too unintelligent, too tasteless. He was in uncharted waters. What was he supposed to say? Luckily Cameron rescued him.

"House? What was that?"

Once he had a jumping off point, House found the words leapt into his throat much more easily. "That is what's known in layman's terms as a kiss." He mentally reprimanded himself. He was making fun of her? Now? _What the hell is wrong with you, House?_ He asked himself. Cameron looked taken aback.

"You know what I meant." She offered no further information. There was no need. They both knew she wanted him to tell her how he felt.

"You want me to declare undying love? I can't." He almost apologised but stopped himself. The atmosphere in the office was awkward. House wondered what she expected now. Would she want him to give more than he was comfortable with?

His natural defence mechanism kicked in as he tried to push her emotions away and resume his standoffish demeanour. It was not a conscious process but dimly he recognised what he was doing. It was like watching a train derailing. He knew what was coming but was completely powerless to stop it. He didn't think Cameron would push him to move their relationship forward too quickly but his impulse to defend his emotions from advancing females was too strong to override. "It was a kiss, Cameron. Not a marriage proposal. It's not a huge deal."

Cameron flushed, whether in anger or embarrassment House couldn't tell. Until she began speaking, that is. "You can't do that, House." Her voice was quiet but every word had a huge impact. "You can't. If you feel nothing, you should have let me leave a few minutes ago. I was ready to leave; I would have left if you hadn't kissed me. You gave me hope and that was wrong if you don't have feelings for me too." Yes, she was definitely angry.

She fell silent but did not break eye contact. The lack of emotion in her usually warm eyes sent an unpleasant feeling through his body. He didn't like her like this. He didn't like this Cameron. He wanted his Cameron back. The Cameron who was kind, friendly and happy.

Finally she turned and, without hesitation, walked towards the door. He didn't stop her this time. There was no hand on her arm, no lips pressed against hers. She didn't even pause at the door. His eyes were fixed to her back as she walked down the corridor. He was unable to tear them away from her form until the elevator doors closed behind her once she was inside.

The moment she was out of sight he let his head fall forwards onto the desk and his forehead connected painfully with the surface. _House_, he told himself,_ you're a complete moron_. He had always considered himself rather intelligent but at that moment he was having trouble believing his stupidity.

Why did he do that? Why couldn't he just tell her how he felt? Cameron was not Stacy. He couldn't blame her for Stacy's actions. Cameron wouldn't betray him like Stacy did. On the other hand, it would hurt a hell of a lot more to lose Cameron. But she was worth it. If she forgave him, he would just have to make sure he did everything in his power to keep her. How was he going salvage his chances with her?

* * *

Cameron left the elevator on the ground floor, upset and very angry. How dare he play with her like that? It wasn't fair of him to kiss her if he didn't want the same things as she did. All he achieved was to destroy the last bit of dignity she had and make it that much harder when she had to walk out of there. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she was not really watching where she was going. As a result she managed to walk straight into another person in the entrance hall and almost fell to the ground. A hand shot out to steady her.

"Thanks." She said.

"No problem, Cameron." Cameron looked up and realised that it was Chase who she had collided with so unceremoniously. He looked nervous, almost like he thought she was liable to attack him. "Er... listen, I'm so sorry I told House. It just slipped out."

Cameron shrugged. "Doesn't matter. In a way it helped. Made us talk about things and finally get things out. He kissed me but it turns out he doesn't want me." Both were silent for a moment and Chase offered a sympathetic smile. "Anyway, at least I tried one last time and I know now. Things don't always turn out the way you hoped."

"I'm sorry, Cameron. You deserve to be happy. I might not particularly like House but if you wanted him then he should've realised how lucky he was." He gave Cameron a brief hug and after they broke away, Cameron smiled at him.

"Thanks. Chase. You mean a lot to me, you know. I hope you're happy too. Is there anyone new on the horizon for you?" she asked, keen to move on from the subject of her and House.

"There might be." Chase stared above her head, pensive. "I'm not sure yet how it's going to pan out."

Cameron nodded. "Good. I hope it works out." Her pager went off and she pulled it out, reading it. "The ER needs me. I'll see you later." Cameron smiled at him and hurried towards the ER. Chase headed towards the elevator to go up to the Surgery department, his smile falling from his face. He might not like House but he did like Cameron and thought she deserved to be with him if that's what she wanted. He couldn't believe House had rejected her. House wasn't an idiot, though, and Chase was sure he would come around sooner or later. If he had to guess, he thought House had simply panicked and pushed her away. But he'd change his mind. Cameron wouldn't have long to wait.

The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. Having decided to find Cameron, apologise to her and beg for another chance, House had found it was surprisingly difficult to locate her. He knew she was avoiding him and it hurt that she felt it necessary to hide from him. He kept catching glimpses of her but she would spot him and disappear behind a corner or into an elevator. Whenever House tried to follow, he was accosted by nurses asking for advice on a patient and he would be forced to go and see what they were talking about. After being asked to check on a routine chest drain, House developed the sneaking suspicion that Cameron had asked several of the nurses to help her avoid him. Through these helpers' ambushes and Cameron's careful movement around the hospital she managed to avoid him for the rest of the day.

House was not happy. He wanted to see her, to explain and, hopefully, get the chance to kiss her again. So it was not in the best of moods that he left the hospital that night, resolving to try and call her tonight (although he doubted she would pick up her phone- she had caller ID) and if she didn't answer, find her tomorrow. He paused outside the main doors of the hospital, taking a Vicodin to ease the throbbing in his leg. He had just started to walk towards his motorcycle when he heard a soft British voice from behind him.

"Chase?"

* * *

Chase pushed his hand into his coat pockets and looked through the glass doors into the foyer searching for Vikki. She was not there but Chase ducked behind a pillar as he saw House limping across the expanse of the entrance hall towards the doors. He had not spotted Chase who aimed to keep it that way. He peered out as House pushed open the door and stood still for a moment, shaking a Vicodin into his palm and swallowing it. He began to move off towards where his motorcycle was parked.

"Chase?" At the sound of the voice both House and Chase turned around. Vikki stood behind Chase looking confused. "Are you hiding?" House limped around the pillar and a grin spread across his face as he saw the pair. Chase's face turned red as he grappled with words, trying to force the right ones out of his mouth.

"You avoiding me Chase? Didn't our passionate moment in my office mean anything to you?" House asked. Vikki looked from Chase to House and instantly recognised him.

"You pushed me out of the way in the pharmacy. You were very rude." Vikki stated, looking at House with distaste. Chase smiled at this; Cameron had never looked at House in that way.

"And you were in the way." House responded, barely glancing at her before returning his attention to Chase.

"I was-" Vikki was cut off by House.

"Don't I mean anything to you, Chase?" House asked in a mock-hurt tone. "What about our moment?"

"We didn't have a moment, House." Chase said to the diagnostician.

"Are you sure? I'm positive I had a moment with somebody." House started.

"Excuse me, I-" Vikki tried to say.

"It was definitely one of my old team." House carried on regardless of her attempted interruption.

"House." Chase warned, suddenly terrified of what House could say. He hadn't mentioned Cameron to Vikki yet and didn't want her to hear about her from House. She might think Chase was deliberately not talking about Cameron to lead them both on. House could destroy any potential relationship with Vikki with a few carefully chosen words.

"It wasn't Foreman..."

"Wha-" Vikki spoke again.

"It was definitely someone feminine..."

"House." Chase said again, slightly pleading now, even though he knew it wouldn't stop House saying what he wanted, especially as he seemed to have caught him in a worse mood than usual.

"Oh yes. I remember now. It was Cameron." He gauged Chase's reaction to this news, unaware that he already knew, and mistakenly attributed Chase's slightly paler face to his shock at the thought of Cameron kissing her older, crippled ex-boss, rather than what it was- fear of Vikki's questions and subsequent opinions of Chase after hearing the answers. Chase was looking sideways at Vikki who had given up trying to interrupt and was looking between the two men, slightly bemused. Even in the high tension situation, Chase had to admit she looked attractive. House drove the point home adding, "It was _Cameron_ I was kissing in my office."

"Who's Cameron?" Vikki chose the most relevant question and directed it at Chase but it was House who answered.

"Cameron's his ex. She broke up with him a few days ago after he was after her for months. She works in the ER." House finished, flashing a faux, saccharine sweet smile at Vikki. She shrugged.

"Okay." She said simply. "Come on Chase. They'll charge extra if I'm late picking the car up." She placed her hand on Chase's arm breaking him out of his trance that he had been in throughout the exchange. House stared at their retreating backs as they left.

Maybe he shouldn't have done that but he had been angry and irritated with himself. Displacing this annoyance onto Chase and lashing out at him had seemed like a logical thing to do at the time. He had a lot of anger reserved for Chase anyway. Chase had run to Vogler for protection, Chase had taken advantage of Cameron when she was on drugs, Chase had kissed her, Chase had touched her and... House ground his teeth and determinedly cut the thought off before it progressed. He didn't want to think about it. If he had his way then no man other than himself would ever touch Cameron again. He began limping towards his bike. He would let Cameron cool off tonight but first thing tomorrow he would make it up to her. He couldn't let her go again. He wouldn't.

* * *

Chase turned left onto the road out of the car park and drove for a while in silence. Vikki turned on the radio and, at his consenting nod, began flicking around the stations.

"Oh! I love this one!" she exclaimed as the opening lyrics to a soft rock song began pouring out of the speakers. Vikki tapped her knees in time to the music.

As the second verse finished Chase said suddenly, "Does it bother you?"

"A little." Vikki replied. "You just missed the turn for the garage." She grinned as Chase cursed softly and went down a side road to turn around.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You said you knew where you were going. Anyway, seeing as how we're on the way to pick up my hopefully relatively cheap but well-repaired car I don't think I'm in a good position to be handing out driving advice or instructions."

Chase laughed softly at this. "True. But that's not what I meant when I asked if it bothered you."

"I suspected as much. Go on then- does what bother me?"

"I didn't tell you about Cameron."

"No. I never imagined you were celibate, Chase. I knew you must have ex-girlfriends."

"So you don't mind that I didn't tell you?"

"I've only known you a few days. You might not feel comfortable telling me yet. We're friends- you would have told me eventually, right?"

"Of course I would." Chase pulled into the garage car park and the pair fell silent. This silence continued as they got out of the car and walked into the building. Vikki walked up to the desk and smiled at the receptionist.

"Hello. I'm Vikki Tatum, I'm here to pick up my car."

"License plate number?" The receptionist asked, while typing Vikki's name into the computer. Vikki told her while Chase stood a little way back, not wanting to invade her privacy. "It says here that it just needed general repairs, is that right?"

"Yes. The brakes weren't working as well as they could have been."

"Okay Doctor Tatum, if you'd like to take a seat over there somebody will be with you soon. Yes, sir?" The receptionist asked Chase who started at the unexpected question.

"Er... I'm fine, thanks. I'm with..." he gestured at Vikki and the receptionist nodded.

"I see. I'm sorry." The receptionist turned back to the computer screen. Chase and Vikki made their way to the seating area and sat down, waiting for a mechanic to come and talk to them about Vikki's car. Vikki looked across at Chase and smiled.

"Thanks for coming, Chase. I appreciate this."

"I told you, it's not a problem."

"No, I know you must have better things to do. You're a good friend."

Chase opened his mouth to answer but they were interrupted by the arrival of a slim blonde man with a wide smile and a piece of paper in his left hand.

"Doctor Tatum?" he addressed Chase.

"No. That's Doctor Tatum. I'm a friend." Chase repeated his earlier gesture towards Vikki. The man turned to look at Vikki and gave her a false bright smile.

"Sorry about that." He sat down with them and placed the paper on the table. Chase saw Vikki's eyebrows lift in disbelief when she saw the price.

"It costs _this_ much to fix the brakes? Seriously?" Chase looked down at the paper too. His eyes widened. They were really overcharging her.

The blonde man nodded. "It wasn't just your brakes, see." He pointed out several lines on the paper. "Once we got started there were a lot of things that needed tweaking a bit to make the vehicle safer." He lifted his eyes from the paper and looked at Chase, speaking more to him than to Vikki. Casting a fleeting look at Vikki he realised that this fact had clearly not escaped her. She was not looking pleased and Chase could understand why. They were trying to cheat her out of money and on top of that they were ignoring her.

"It's her car. It's her you're trying to swindle too much money out of. Talk to her." Chase told the man.

"Excuse me, sir? Swindle? You seem to be implying that we are charging too much. It's merely the price of her safety."

"You work on commission, right? Are you telling me that you wouldn't bump up the fee of people who don't look like they know anything about cars if it would help you pay your mortgage?"

The man bristled. "I don't like what your implying, sir." The words may have seemed polite but Chase could easily detect contempt in the man's tone.

"I don't like you charging my friend an extortionate amount of money for things that I know cost a lot less than that. Like this, for example." Chase jabbed randomly at a line on the page, hoping he looked like he knew what he was talking about. "I know that's too much."

The man regarded him for a second. "There is also the cost of labour and time, not just materials."

Chase opened his mouth to retort but Vikki got there first. "You can't expect us to believe that labour costs more than the materials." She pointed out the relevant labour and materials columns on the sheet. "That's just ridiculous."

The man stared at her for a second. "Look, I'll tell you what, I'll go and see my boss, see if I can reduce the price for you. I'm not promising anything and I won't be able to make it a lot cheaper in any case." He stood up and walked away, not giving them the chance to respond. Vikki looked across at Chase.

"Did you have a clue what you were talking about a minute ago?" she asked.

"Nope. Did you?" Chase replied.

"No. Did we fool him, do you think?"

"Maybe. He's gone to see his 'boss' anyway. I was very impressed when you stood up for yourself, by the way."

"Thanks. I'd had enough of obnoxious men ignoring me for one day." Chase grinned at this, knowing she was referring to House. "Thanks for helping me."

"It's fine." He looked towards the office into which the blonde mechanic had disappeared and noticed that he was on his way back. Vikki followed his eyes and sat up slightly in her chair, not taking her eyes off the approaching man, who only raised his eyes to look at them when he was a few feet away. He settled himself back into his chair before talking.

"Right. I've spoken to my boss and he's agreed to knock the price down twenty percent but we really can't do any more than that." He pulled a calculator out and quickly worked out the new price, writing it at the bottom of the page. Vikki and Chase both leant forward to read the much more reasonable price. Chase looked at Vikki who seemed happier with the reduced rate.

"Is that alright?" Chase asked her quietly trying his hardest to cut the mechanic out of the conversation. Vikki looked at him.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're not going to get a much better price than that."

"Yeah." She replied. "Yes okay then. Do you accept cheques?" She addressed this last statement to the blonde man who nodded. Vikki filled out a cheque and handed it to the man.

"Thank you Doctor Tatum." He handed her the keys. "Your car is in the left row of cars when you walk out of the door." He stood up and shook hands with first Vikki, then Chase. The doctors said goodbye and politely thanked the mechanic before walking out of the building. Silently they walked down the left row of cars and found Vikki's, as the man had said they would, about half way down. Chase turned to face her.

"Did you mean it?" he asked, suddenly.

"What?" she replied and her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

"When you said we were just friends." The unspoken question in Chase's voice was plain for both of them. Was that all they would ever be?

Vikki smiled softly and leaned over, kissing him lightly on the cheek before getting into her car. She paused and leaned through the open window.

"Maybe in a while we can be more than that. I like you but you've just broken up with someone. I don't want to be a rebound girl." With that she started the ignition and smiled at him before starting to drive away. Chase watched her leave the car park, thinking about her last words. After she was out of sight he made his way towards his car and got in. He drove out of the car park and headed towards home.


	15. Chapter 14

_Hello everybody._

_Hope you're all alright and you're having a good day._

_This chapter focuses more on House and Cameron because, after discussing it with my wonderful friend who very kindly checks over all my chapters before I post them and listens to my long rambling thought processes without complaint, I have decided that the Vikki and Chase thing has served its purpose- the idea was really to show that Chase wasn't too upset about Cameron and that he would be just fine. Hope you like this chapter._

_I think there's only going to be a few more chapters of this story but there may be a sequel in the future if an idea occurs to me. Anyway, if you've stuck with this story so far, thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy the story._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed for providing such motivation for me to continue._

_Enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 14._

At quarter to eleven the next morning House, in a considerably worse disposition than usual (and that was saying something) stormed into his office, throwing his bag forcefully into the thankfully Wilson-less chair as he made his way to the chair behind the desk. The three employees in the conference room cast a wary look at him and all of them instantly beat a hasty retreat, apparently deciding that facing clinic duty and Cuddy in all her tyrannical glory would be infinitely less dangerous than being near House all morning.

House ground his teeth and swallowed two Vicodin tablets from the bottle in his pocket before seizing the ball from his desk. He grasped it between his hands and proceeded to squeeze it as hard as he could despite the fact that it was really not designed to be used as a stress ball. It took a lot of effort to compress the ball even slightly and House soon gave up as the bones in his wrists began to ache in protest of the pressure being exerted on them.

He had tried to call Cameron a few times the night before but she had not answered. As a result he had been inundated with a number of scenarios thought up by his jealous mind. Try as he might he could not turn off the film reel of images playing in his mind's eye all involving Cameron and which invoked alternating feelings of jealousy, sadness and fear.

Cameron, wearing an extremely attractive little outfit, dancing close to a faceless stranger in a club, laughing as he pulled her against his body.

Cameron tripping and falling down the stairs unable to move, unable to call for help.

Cameron sat on a sofa in an apartment with Chase, her arms wrapped around him as he leaned in for a kiss from her beautiful lips, which she willingly bestowed.

Finally, and most terrifying of all, House couldn't shake off the image of Cameron lying alone by the side of the road, bleeding, dying.

House knew these images weren't real, hell some weren't even logical but he couldn't switch his brain off from concocting them. The sensible part of his mind told him that she was probably in her apartment, safe and alone, but was screening her calls to avoid talking to him but still he couldn't stop himself from panicking about where she was every time her phone rang out.

The idea of Cameron either hurt or with another man had plagued him all night and the sunlight had started to creep in around the edges of the curtains before he had finally fallen into a restless sleep. This fact was more than likely one of the main contributors to his foul mood the next morning. Jealous, ignored and tired made for an extremely displeased House.

House contemplated his current situation and how he was going to go about finding Cameron, preferably alone; he didn't want spectators to either of the potential results. Option number one was that Cameron would reject him and his apologies and he would be completely humiliated and option number two (which he personally preferred) was that Cameron would forgive him and hopefully let him kiss her again.

As House mused on his situation Wilson, who had looked into House's office several times over the last hour or so, before returning to his own office after his search had been unsuccessful, was making his way down the hall once more. From his position on the corridor he could see that the conference room was empty, whereas fifteen minutes previously it had been populated by House's three employees who were all pretending to work. Secure in his idea that clinic duty was something which most doctors would avoid at all costs, he deduced that the fellows must have left in such a hurry because the alternative was worse. He was proven right in this assumption when he opened the door to House's office only to be nearly knocked backwards from the force of the waves of hostility radiating from the direction of the man behind the desk.

House glowered darkly at his best friend from under his eyebrows. Despite knowing that House was not physically dangerous, Wilson's steps to the chair in front of the desk were tentative, giving House ample opportunity to tell the oncologist to leave him alone. House said nothing of the sort. In fact he said nothing at all and Wilson moved the bag from the chair, sat down, crossed one leg over the other and stared at House who, Wilson now realised, looked extremely tired, adding years onto his external appearance.

"So..." Wilson started, understanding that if he waited for House to say something, they would both be very old men before a word was spoken. After this initial opener, however, Wilson found that he did not know what else to say.

"The conversational master strikes again." House said now that the barrier of silence was broken.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

Wilson's left eyebrow rose in disbelief, he could practically see the thunderclouds rolling above House's head. When Wilson pointed this out he received nothing but a glare from House in reply.

"I'm just saying that anybody who has ever met you can tell something's wrong. I know you pretty well, better than anyone I think so I'll go one better and say I think I know who it involves. Cameron, right?" Wilson accepted House's silence as confirmation. "You going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to find Cameron and ask her? Judging by the look on your face she isn't too happy with you so I'm sure she'll tell me if it involves insulting you." House winced slightly and Wilson experienced a small stab of guilt for using Cameron against him especially as House seemed to have been growing to like Cameron more and more recently and her feelings towards him at the moment seemed to be less than rapturous.

"I've messed it up." House said simply a few moments later and looked away to avoid Wilson's eyes.

"What? You mean Cameron?" Wilson asked, momentarily wrong-footed by this admission.

"Of course I mean Cameron. Who were we just talking about? I've hurt her again, Wilson."

"What the hell happened?"

"She came here yesterday. We were right. Turns out she and Chase broke up because she still wants to be with me. That might be past tense now actually. She _wanted_ to be with me until I screwed it up."

"What did you do, House?" Wilson asked and leant forward in his chair, giving House his full attention.

"She told me she wanted to be with me. When I didn't say anything she tried to leave. I couldn't let her leave. Suddenly the thought of never having another chance with her was completely terrifying. I kissed her to stop her from leaving."

"To stop her leaving? Are you sure there wasn't another reason?" Wilson stared intently at his friend. House finally lifted his eyes to meet Wilson's.

"No. You said you know me. You know there's another reason. I like her Wilson. I don't want to lose her."

"What do you mean when you say you like her?"

House rubbed his eyes. "How many interpretations are there? I mean I like her in the same way that I liked Stacy in the beginning. Maybe more than I liked Stacy when I met her. I like her a lot."

Wilson leant back in his chair. The enormity of the statement which was just spoken hit Wilson especially hard because of who had said it. He knew that an admission like that was hard to vocalise for House and he suddenly felt the true value House must place on their friendship. He wouldn't admit such personal feelings to just anybody.

"Really? How does that feel?"

"Honestly? Scary as hell."

There was long silence while this statement soaked in to both men. Wilson was surprised that House had admitted to feeling an emotion as basic as fear when normally he tended to treat emotions with disdain and distance himself from people when they were 

expressing them. House didn't like the vulnerability that came with letting other people knowing his feelings. House stared at a spot on the desk in front of his as if it held all the meaning of the universe, if only he would look for them hard enough.

At long last Wilson cleared his throat and House looked up, shaking his head slightly to clear some of the confusion clouding up his mind. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find her later and talk to her."

"What are you going to say?"

"I'd thought I'd start with my views on world politics." House quipped and Wilson grinned. He doubted anything would ever change House. The wonderful thing about Cameron was that she knew this and accepted him the way he was. She had no hidden agenda or ideas about changing him.

Wilson took the hint and didn't press House for more details. Looking at House he noticed that he was once again deep in thought. Wilson sighed and stood up, deciding to leave his friend to think. He quickly said goodbye and walked out of the door. After watching him leave House's eyes returned to the spot on the desk he had been contemplating before and his mind returned to Allison Cameron.

* * *

An hour later House had finally gathered himself sufficiently to begin his search for Cameron. Not that she was exceptionally well hidden. After ascertaining that she was not in the clinic or the ER, there was really only one more place she could be.

He could see from halfway down the corridor that she was in the lab. A fraction of a second later he could see that she was not alone. She was with a male lab technician, whose name House had never bothered to learn and who, in House's opinion, was standing far too close to Cameron as she bent forward to look down the eyepiece of a microscope. House stopped walking and watched her brush her hair behind her ear with one hand as she focussed the lens with her other hand. The look on the technician's face at this movement did not escape House. His eyes were fixed on her and the broad smile that spread across his features made his eyes crease at the corners.

House's hand tightened around his cane in anger; he didn't like that... that _boy_ looking at his Cameron that way.

He started walking without knowing he had decided to. The noise of his cane hitting the floor evidently alerted the two people in the lab of his approach as the technician turned around to face him and Cameron briefly looked up from the microscope before determinedly fixing her eyes anywhere but on House.

House pushed open the door, anger still pumping through his body. He shot a glare at the man who seemed to shrink away slightly from his look.

"Out." House ordered the technician. Besides needing to talk to Cameron in private, House really didn't want to look at the lab worker any more.

"No. No, John you don't have to." Cameron protested as she lifted her head, although she still didn't look at House.

"Excuse me? I work here." The lab technician replied, taking courage from Cameron's objections. Courage which he quickly lost under House's persistent stare.

"Now." House said, not taking his eyes off the man, who House now knew was called John. John hesitated before meeting Cameron's silently pleading eyes and giving her an apologetic look and then left the lab quickly. House stared at Cameron who was still not looking at him but, House noticed, every now and then she would dart little nervous looks in his direction from the corners of her eyes.

"Who was that?" House finally broke the tense silence.

"He's been here for years and you don't know his name?"

"Of course I do. His name's John. I want to know who he is _to you_." House emphasised, becoming slightly impatient.

"I'm allowed to have friends, House!" Cameron finally looked at him with anger flashing in her eyes.

"Men who look at you that way don't have friendship on their minds."

"You're being ridiculous. How do you think he was looking at me?"

"The same way I do!" House's loud, angry reply came quickly and Cameron said nothing. They fell into silence once more, House studied her closely as Cameron looked away again, fiddling with the adjustment dials on the side of the microscope.

"You didn't pick up your phone." House said after a few minutes, in his normal collected voice once more.

"No."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to talk to you."

House rubbed his hand across his brow and looked down. "Understandable after yesterday." Cameron didn't say anything in reply, just continued examining the microscope more minutely than such a standard piece of equipment warranted. House said something else and she looked back up at him, unable to believe what she had heard.

"What did you say?" she asked incredulously.

"I said I'm sorry." House repeated after a short pause. Cameron stared at him and he shifted under her gaze.

"Oh." Cameron said quietly and House noted the change in her demeanour, she was willing to listen to him. He seized his chance.

"I shouldn't have said those things to you. I panicked. You know I was never any good with feelings. Doesn't mean I don't have them."

"Oh." Cameron said again and wished she could find something more interesting to say.

"You said I shouldn't have stopped you leaving if I didn't have feelings for you." Cameron nodded at this, holding her breath in anticipation of his next words. "If you meant that then I was perfectly right to stop you." House said and met Cameron's eyes reading the obvious question contained within them. He nodded and Cameron gave a small smile which made his chest feel tight.

"You..."

"I like you. And I'd like to give it a try with you. I'll be grumpy, unpleasant and will probably say a lot of hurtful things but if you're still interested, so am I." He finished his speech and searched her eyes quickly finding what he was looking for and giving a rare smile of relief when he saw happiness in them.

"I'm interested." She said quietly and stood up from her stool. "I was supposed to be back in the ER ten minutes ago. I'll see you later?" He nodded and she began to walk past towards the door. As she walked past him he reached out and grasped her arm halting her movements.

Visions of the last time he had held her elbow filled Cameron's mind and a slight shiver ran through her. House instantly noticed this and guessed the reason why when he saw her glance at his hand on her arm. He smiled to himself and pulled her in to him. Cameron made a small show of objecting ("House, they're expecting me in the ER.") and pushing him away but didn't make any serious effort to distance herself from his embrace. She didn't want to when she looked up and met his eyes which were staring down at her, concentrating solely on her.

He removed his hand from her arm but she didn't move away. House lifted both his hands to the sides of her head and, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, brought his mouth down to meet hers.

Cameron's eyes fell shut the second House's lips touched her own and she drew even closer to him, her arms sliding around his waist as his cradled her head. He was in complete control, as always, his hands were in her hair and he was making her stomach do extremely unusual things as he kissed her. House himself was feeling better than he had done in a long time. Cameron had forgiven him. After everything, she had forgiven him. She was wonderful and sweet and an amazing kisser and, finally, she might let him call her his. His thoughts disappeared as Cameron's lips pressed tighter against his own. Oh yes, he could _definitely_ get used to this.

Finally they broke apart, slightly out of breath but smiling all the same. They stared at each other for a few minutes, still not moving apart. After about thirty seconds House spoke.

"It would never have been you, you know." He said and Cameron was confused.

"Sorry?" there was a small crease in the centre of her brow and House felt the strangest desire to kiss her forehead.

"With Vogler. It would never have been you I fired. Even if he'd refused to accept me firing Foreman or Chase leaving you as the only option, it would never have been you. I'd have found a way. I wouldn't have let you go." It might have seemed random but Cameron understood perfectly. He was going to tell her all the things he hadn't in the past, all the things he wished he could have told her. He was making up for lost time.

The noise of a pair of heels warned them of someone coming down the corridor and they broke apart, not wishing to be found in their current position.

"I'd better go." Cameron said with her eyes still fixed on House's. Reluctantly she tore them away before opening the door and walking down the corridor towards the ER. House watched her for as long as he could see her but his attention was demanded by someone entering the lab.

"House." Cuddy waited until he looked at her. "House, clinic duty. I've looked all over the place for you. And no, one of your team can't fill in for you. Go."

House left the room without complaint and, Cuddy was surprised to see, was heading for the clinic, rather than trying to find somewhere else to hide. Something was different with him. Was it just her imagination or did he look almost happy? Cuddy suddenly remembered that she had seen Cameron leaving the lab a few seconds before she had entered and smiled to herself, an idea as to the reason for House's apparent glee occurring to her.

House and Cameron? Good. She knew Cameron had wanted to be with House for a long time and she had waited long enough for him to come round to the idea. And if anyone could make Gregory House happy, it was Allison Cameron.


	16. Chapter 15

_Hi everyone,_

_Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it. I am planning a sequel to this but I probably won't start it until the summer after college and my exams are over. _

_Anyway, thanks again and I hope you enjoy the next chapter._

_Have a great day!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 15._

Cameron entered the ER with a huge smile on her face. She happily greeted a nurse who was bent over the desk filling in a form. The nurse, Joan, looked up.

"Hello Doctor Cameron. Doctor Johnson was looking for you. We need your help on some patients."

"Yes. She just paged me. Do you know where I can find her?"

"She was over near cubicle three a few minutes ago. All her patients are down that end." Joan pointed towards the far end of the ward and, following her finger, Cameron saw said doctor moving towards them, looking harried. As she reached them Cameron noted with some concern that she looked rushed off her feet and wondered how long she had been here.

"Cameron! You're here. Great. There's just been an influx of patients. Some fight at a football match or something, I don't..." Doctor Debbie Johnson broke off shaking her head with a despairing look. "Anyway, there are too many patients and not enough doctors around. We're trying to keep the supporters of each team separate which is, you know, a lot of hassle and they're getting worked up because they have to wait for so long."

"Alright." Cameron picked up a file off the large pile in the in tray and flicked it open, scanning the details.

Debbie's eyebrows shot upwards. "You seem oddly alright with this. Wound up football fans, Cameron. Hardly the most pleasant people to treat. And there are a lot of them so they're more rowdy than usual." She looked suspiciously at Cameron's poorly hidden beam. "Why do you seem so happy? What's happened?"

"Nothing." Cameron tried to reduce her grinning to a level which made her look less moronic with little success. She wasn't sure how much House wanted people to know about their relationship just yet. She would probably need to discuss that with him the next time she saw him. Debbie stared at her for a moment, obviously unconvinced but realised that Cameron was not going to elaborate and that there wasn't time to press the issue. She started to turn to walk back down the hall. "Debbie," Cameron said, stopping her colleague who turned to face her. "We'll sort out this lot and then promise me the second it gets a bit calmer, you'll take a break?"

Debbie nodded and smiled. "I will. I'll see you later." She turned and walked off back down towards cubicle three. Cameron looked back down at the file, the grin growing uncontrollably across her face once more. She walked towards cubicle 7, which held one of the football match attendants who needed a gash on his cheek looking at, with her head full of thoughts of House.

She entered cubicle seven to be greeted with the sight of a man sitting on the bed with a nasty cut on his face laughing with two men on his left side. They looked up as she walked in and one of the men standing by the bed gave her a very obvious once over. Instantly Cameron was uncomfortable with their looks. She left the curtains open, not wanting to shut herself in with these men. The man who had looked her over, a dark haired man with a pale face, was the first to speak.

"Hello, sweetheart. What can we do for you then?"

Cameron ignored his first comment, not wanting to explain why it offended her when strangers used terms of endearment when talking to her, especially as it might just egg these men on in their current high spirits and boisterous moods.

"Actually, I'm a doctor. Doctor Cameron. I'm here to have a look at your friend's cheek." She moved over to the patient's right side, opposite to his two friends. She glanced surreptitiously at the name on the file, having forgotten it already due to her thoughts being rather preoccupied with a certain tall, scruffy diagnostician. She hid a smile as he entered the forefront of her mind once more before pulling her mind back to the patient. "Mr Pullman, is it?"

"Ricky, please. Aren't you a bit young be a doctor? I've always had doctors who are old, ugly guys who make bad jokes. And you, er, well, you're definitely none of those things. Young pretty girl like you..."

"Mr Pullman!" Cameron interrupted. "Please keep your comments to yourself or I will have to get another doctor and you will have an even longer wait."

"Sorry, darling. It was meant as a compliment." Ricky replied, holding up his hands in a surrendering gesture that irked Cameron almost as much as him calling her 'darling.' She hadn't been aggressive and he wasn't a 1940's Western style film star being held at gunpoint. There was just no need for him to do it. She bit the inside of her cheek to calm herself down. _House, think of House_, she told herself, finding it was a very effective method of making herself feel happier.

The three men were just excitable, that's all. They might have been behaving offensively, but they weren't posing a physical threat to her safety so she decided she would do what she always did- treat the patient to the best of her ability and then get them out of here as soon as possible. Good for everyone. The hospital didn't get a build up of patients and the patients themselves left the hospital with their injuries fixed or their illnesses cured, happy because they didn't have to wait too long and having had received excellent medical care.

Inspecting the cut on the patient's cheek, Cameron concluded that there were no foreign objects on the wound even though, according to Ricky, it had been caused by "some crazy guy with a broken glass bottle." It was simple enough to treat, it just needed cleaning and suturing. She decided to do this herself, Ricky Pullman and his friends now seemed to, at least in part, respect her and had ceased to question her abilities, although they still kept calling her things like, 'love' and 'sweetheart'. Cameron was letting this go, however. It was a good day and she didn't want to ruin it by confronting them about some trivial detail when she would never see them again after today. She also did not want to let a nurse do it in fear that the men's behaviour would be back to square one, they would make some comments that would insult the nurse who would then refuse to treat them and Cameron would end up volunteering to do it anyway. It seemed quicker to do it this way.

An hour later she had discharged Ricky Pullman and had treated two other patients. The combined efforts of all the doctors in the ER meant that now there was just one of the men involved in the fight left, and one of the nurses was busy pulling fragments of glass from his forearm with a pair of tweezers. Cameron threw her last file in the discharged tray and looked around. It was relatively quiet and she decided she would go and get her lunch now in case it was busier later on. Informing the nurse behind the desk of her decision so that they would know to page her if they needed her for anything, Cameron left the ER for the cafeteria, finally free to spend her whole lunch thinking about House if she wanted to. Which she did.

After entering the cafeteria she walked to the display case and immediately grabbed a plastic container of rice and chicken. She pulled an apple off the stand on her way to the cash register. Cameron laid her food on the tray for the woman behind the till to see and waited while the woman pressed a few buttons on the machine before stating the price.

Cameron's hand went to reach into her pocket for some money but a strong hand stopped her by holding on to her wrist.

"Hello, beautiful."

* * *

For House, clinic duty passed even slower than usual, which was quite amazing seeing as he thought it normally went at the speed of a heavily sedated snail. Scratch that, an unconscious snail. There were only so many times he could say, "It's the flu," without feeling the overwhelming desire to smack somebody around the head with his cane. He had now exceeded that limit by about four and his good mood was rapidly deteriorating.

"I'm really struggling to breathe. I keep coughing and my chest is really tight." His current patient, a man in his late twenties, whose name House had already forgotten and wasn't feeling any desperate desire to reacquaint himself with, sat on the bed sniffing and wringing his hands. He looked worriedly at House. "My father died of lung cancer and his symptoms started off this way. I heard there was a genetic link. Could that be... could I have cancer?"

"Nope. Flu."

"Sorry?"

_Cameron, think of Cameron. Breathe_, House inhaled deeply before talking, forcing himself to picture Cameron's beautiful, sweet face to avoid losing his temper out of frustration."You have the flu. Not cancer. Flu."

"How... how do you know that? You haven't even examined me."

House became annoyed. He shouldn't have to keep reassuring people that he knew what he was talking about. "The air conditioning is broken. It's like the Antarctica in here but you're sweating. You have a fever. You keep sniffing so clearly you have a blocked nose. Symptoms of the flu. According to your notes you had surgery last year and weighed thirteen stone. You look like you weigh about that now. No weight loss and you don't look tired which are symptoms of lung cancer. Your symptoms can all be explained by the flu. I repeat, you don't have lung cancer." House finished, picking up the file from the desk to his side and pushing standing up, leaning heavily on his cane. "At the risk of sounding like your grandmother, rest and keep hydrated."

"But..."

"There's no medicine I can give you. You're wasting your and, more importantly, my time." He left the room not giving the man any opportunity to respond. He threw the file into the discharged pile on the nurse's desk and let out a frustrated groan. He had only done an hour's work and he was already bored beyond belief.

It was approaching one o'clock and House had had enough.

He picked up his cane from where it rested on the counter, told the nurse behind the desk that he was going, and was out in the foyer before she had a chance to open her mouth to protest. He considered going up to see Wilson but a pang of hunger hit him and he decided to have lunch first. So he redirected his steps instead to the cafeteria, stopping just inside the door when he saw the back of a very attractive brown head of hair standing by the cashier, paying for a sandwich. He smiled, his bad mood instantly forgotten. He headed for the counter, grabbing a Reuben and before making his way to the cash register to meet her, skipping over many other people in the queue in the process.

He heard the woman behind the till state the price and saw Cameron's arm move backwards to put her hand in her pocket for money to pay. He reached out his own hand and stopped hers by placing his hand on hers.

"Hello, beautiful." He said softly so that only the pair of them could hear it. Cameron jumped and looked around. When she saw it was him she smiled. Her insides contracted at the sight of him and she found that when he used affectionate names she didn't mind it so much. He returned her smile before turning his eyes to the woman behind the till, who was regarding them both with a slightly suspicious look on her face. He held up the Reuben.

"Add this to the price. I'll pay." At the woman's persistent stare he continued. "Here's how it works. You add up the prices of this food- don't worry, you don't have to do it in your head, that big, shiny thing in front of you is there to help- and tell us the price and I give you some of these pieces of paper, also known as dollars, to pay the correct amount. I might need change because I only have the paper kind of money, not the round metal kind, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?"

She shot him a glare before adding the Reuben's price onto the price.

"4.90." Cameron noticed the cashier forwent her usual 'please' when in House's presence and smiled as House handed over the money and waited for his change. They walked together to a small table at the left of the cafeteria and sat down opposite each other. They each had a few bites of their food before a word was even said.

"What did they want in the ER?" House asked taking another bite of his Reuben and chewing.

"We had a lot of patients come in at once. It wasn't really important or exciting."

"It better had have been."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the ER better have a very good excuse for taking you away from me just when I was having so much fun with you." He fixed her with an intense stare and she looked down blushing. House noted that she was very pretty when she blushed. He decided that he should embarrass her more often.

"I saw Cuddy coming down the hall towards the lab. Did she find you? What did she want?"

"Clinic duty." He pulled a face making her laugh softly and his stomach turned over at the noise.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Cameron said after another short pause. House began to panic. He hoped she wasn't going to say it was all a mistake. He really wanted to give their relationship a try. He didn't want to lose her before they had even really begun.

"What about?" House asked, breathing deeply.

"When I went to the ER, someone asked me why I looked so happy." Cameron looked up at him and smiled. "I wasn't sure what to tell her. I wanted to tell her about me and you but I wasn't sure if you would be alright with that. I didn't want to tell her and then find out that you weren't comfortable with that."

"I appreciate that, Cameron. But don't worry about it. I'm alright about letting people know. I _want_ to let people know. In fact, as soon as I've finished eating I plan to go up to the roof and shout it through a loudspeaker so that everyone in the hospital knows. Especially the men. And I'll probably do a special announcement for that John from the lab so he knows too." House broke off looking thoughtful and Cameron laughed. He smiled. "Seriously, if we want to have a proper relationship then we can't do it in secret."

"Good. Thanks." She smiled at him. "But we can't bring it into work. It wouldn't be professional."

"Right. Got it. No pulling you into closets for clandestine meetings."

Cameron smiled. "Yes. None of that. I'm glad we're doing this, you know. I've waited a long time."

House nodded. "Me too."

They finished their lunch in silence, looking up and meeting each other's eyes once in a while and smiling. They both felt contented and relaxed, which was amazing for anybody working in the high stress environment of a hospital and particularly astonishing for House.

Cameron finished her apple and stood up from the table. "I have to get back to the ER. I haven't been spending a lot of time there recently so I can't be away too long. But I'll speak to you later?" she asked, gathering her plastic packet and apple core and looking down at him. She reached over to pick up the packaging from his Reuben too, and he wrapped his hand around her wrist for the second time in less than half an hour.

She looked up to meet his eyes questioningly and he pulled her down towards him. He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth before releasing her and she straightened.

"Yeah. I'll see you later." He said, standing up as she put the packets in the bin. Looking around the cafeteria, Cameron could see quite a few people looking their way, nudging their dining buddies and whispering. Clearly some had seen House's display a few seconds before and Cameron smiled. She was glad he wasn't ashamed of this. She knew, though, that this meant that she would not get the chance to tell many people. It would be all over the hospital soon. Sometimes Princeton-Plainsboro was worse than a playground for gossip.

House gently pulled her by her arm along out into the corridor, seemingly ignoring the looks they were getting. He let go of the arm just outside the doors, but still in plain view of the people craning their necks to look at the pair outside. He turned to face her and leaned down to kiss her once more, smiling as he heard a fresh wave of whispering break out. When they broke apart Cameron said goodbye and went off towards the ER. House watched her go for a few seconds before heading to the elevator.

* * *

House pushed the door of his best friend's office open without knocking and walked straight to the couch, sitting down before even looking at the oncologist. Wilson was regarding him with a lifted eyebrow communicating an unspoken question as clearly to House as if he had used a bullhorn.

"Yes, I talked to her." House responded, looking down at where his cane met the floor to hide the slight upturn at the corners of his lips. Wilson mistook this as a sign of House's being upset and slumped back in his chair with his eyes still fixed on the top of House's head. He exhaled loudly.

"What happened? What did she say?" He asked tentatively. If House was upset it was a short step to him being angry and he didn't want to press too hard for answers. Wilson was finding it hard to believe that Cameron would reject House, although it was looking as if that was exactly what had happened. She loved him. She had for years now and they had even kissed yesterday. After she had been in love with House for so long Wilson did not believe she could have got over him overnight. _If it was that easy to stop loving somebody_, he thought ruefully, _my divorces would have been a lot easier_. House looked up and Wilson was surprised and confused to see a rare smile playing around his lips. It took the Wilson a few seconds to work out what this smile could mean and the moment he reached the conclusion a broad smile spread over his own features, magnifying House's expression.

"What happened?" he repeated in a much happier tone.

"I apologised." Wilson's eyebrows rose in surprise at this first statement of House's. "I told her I'd probably screw up again. Many times. Then I said that if she was still interested then I'd like to try some kind of relationship with her." House broke off and his smile grew even more as he took in his friend's beaming face.

"That's... that's great. What did she say?"

House looked at him, obviously thinking it was a stupid question to ask when he was sat grinning, he felt, like an idiot. If she had rejected him he would be shut up in his office right now, blasting music through his headphones into his ears giving off strong 'Do Not Disturb' vibes. "She agreed, of course."

"Great. That's brilliant, House. She's going to be really good for you."

House nodded and looked back down at the floor. "I know."

"You love her?" Wilson asked, staring hard at House, trying to read his body language as much as anything. House didn't lift his head, and so Wilson could not read anything in his eyes. The silence stretched on and Wilson waited. For House to answer, for him to deflect the question, for him to stand up and leave, it didn't matter. Any response would serve as an adequate answer to his question. If he left or deflected the question, he would know that House wasn't sure, if he answered 'yes' then, fairly obviously, he did, and if he said 'no', then, well, it just meant that he wasn't quite there yet. Wilson was sure that House was either falling in love with Allison Cameron or had already arrived. He mightn't feel comfortable discussing it either way.

House slowly lifted his head and met Wilson's eyes but did not say a word. They held eye contact for a few seconds while Wilson tried to sift through the contents of House's eyes to find the answer to the question. He called his search to an end, however, when House nodded slowly and it was pointless to continue. He had the answer that he wanted. House loved her. Wilson smiled to himself as House broke their gaze, leaning backwards and staring at the ceiling.

"You won't screw it up up, right?" Wilson asked after a few more seconds' silence.

"Nobody _tries_ to mess up, Wilson. I'm sure I will but with any luck it will be fixable. I don't want to lose her."

Wilson nodded. "I know you don't. Cameron's strong. She won't let you go without a fight. She hasn't given up on you for three years; you'd have to do something really awful for her to give up now."

House nodded once more and pushed himself up with his cane. "Anyway, things to do, you know. I mean, can imagine how Cuddy would react if I didn't earn my keep?" House asked, smirking.

"Not a clue." Wilson replied sarcastically, returning his friend's grin. House pulled open the door and stepped out into the cool corridor. As the door shut behind him Wilson continued smiling. _It's about time_, he thought as he picked up his pen and leaned down to make some patient notes.


	17. Chapter 16

_Hi everyone. Hope everything's going well for you all._

_Thanks so much for all the reviews for the last chapter. I appreciate all of them._

_This is actually the last chapter of this story. __I made this chapter quite a lot longer than any of the previous ones which possibly explains why it took longer to add it.__I'm kind of sad that we're at the end but at the same time I'm happy with the results of my first multi-chapter story. The idea of a sequel I can start over the summer is also a cheering thought. Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed it and thanks to everyone who has read this.  
_

_With that said, enjoy!_

_**Excuses.**_

_Chapter 16._

Cameron was getting fed up of this. If she had to listen to another sentence beginning with the words, "Is it true you and House..." someone would get hurt. All afternoon so far there had been nurses and other hospital employees coming up to her, some of whom had never even spoken to her before, all angling for a bit of gossip, acting like they were a close friend of hers. She pushed a small piece of cotton wool into the elbow of the patient from whom she had just drawn blood, perhaps a little harder than was necessary seeing as the spot was probably a little tender. She gave the twenty three year old woman an apologetic look as she flinched.

"Just keep the pressure on it. I'll be back in a few minutes with the discharge papers and you can expect a call from the hospital in a couple of days with the results of the tests. If you do have diabetes it is manageable and the hospital will arrange for you to see a doctor when they call, okay?"

The woman nodded. "Thank you Doctor. Is there a leaflet I can take away in the meantime, just in case?"

"Of course. I'll bring one back in a minute." Cameron looked down at the woman's elbow where she was pressing the cotton wool into the crease of her arm with her index and middle finger of her opposite arm. "A little firmer or it will bruise more." The woman complied, pushing the material tighter into her arm. Satisfied, Cameron reached onto the trolley beside her and retrieved some surgical tape. Ensuring the firmness of the wool on the wound was maintained, she taped the wool to the crook of the woman's arm. "Leave that there for a few hours." Also on the trolley stood a small plastic cup of water which she now offered the woman who accepted it gratefully and took a large gulp.

Cameron watched as the woman drank. "Some people can have odd reactions to blood tests so if you start feeling faint or anything just call a nurse. We won't keep you much longer but we just need to make sure you'll be alright. Are you driving home?"

"No. My husband's waiting outside to drive me home."

"Outside?"

"The cubicle. Not the hospital. He doesn't like the sight of blood. He won't even watch any of the medical dramas on television. He's a little squeamish, that's all."

"Am not." A petulant voice came from beyond the curtain. Cameron poked her head round the side of the curtain.

"It's all over now. You can come back in."

"Has the needle gone?"

"Yes."

A man of around twenty five entered, looking around warily as though expecting a needle to jump up from the trolley of its own accord and stab him in the leg. His wife grinned.

"I swear, you're like a child." At this he stopped looking around and approached her, pouting.

"You know you love me."

"I know." She smiled up at him and he bent down to tenderly kiss her on the forehead and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder.

"How long have you been married?" Cameron asked, curious at the relationship between these two obviously much in love people. The wife smiled.

"Three weeks tomorrow."

"We were on our honeymoon and she noticed she was having blurred vision. We thought she was maybe just hungry but she had no appetite. Her grandmother had diabetes so we thought we better check her out as soon as we got home."

"That was the right thing to do. Congratulations on your wedding. I hope you'll be happy together."

"So far, so good." The husband smiled down at his new wife and bent to softly kiss her lips. Cameron surveyed the scene, feeling the glow of happiness the couple were exuding, and allowed a smile to creep onto her face.

Breaking away from her husband the woman gave him a fond look before turning her face to Cameron.

"Are you married?" she asked even while her eyes flickered to Cameron's naked ring finger on her left hand.

"I was. A long time ago."

"Well then you're definitely with someone." At Cameron's questioning look she elaborated. "There's only one thing that could cause a woman to look the way you did when you came in here- simultaneously blissfully happy and utterly exasperated at the same time. That thing is a man."

Cameron laughed with the woman while her husband scowled.

"Yes. There is someone. He's not the one who's aggravating me though. Well... not at the moment, anyway. I'm sure he will at some point today. It's just the way he is." There was silence for a moment while the couple nodded and laughed and Cameron thought briefly about House upstairs and smiled widely, feeling a lot better. "Anyway, I'm going to get this blood-" The husband shrunk away as she held up the sample "-off to be tested and get you the discharge papers." She smiled at the newly-weds and left the cubicle, walking over to the nurses' station with a new spring in her step. She had not made it half-way, however, when she was stopped by an eager, young nurse rushing towards her.

Cameron was on immediate red alert as she looked at the nurse's flushed face and urgent expression. She braced herself to hear news of an incoming emergency of some kind as the nurse came to a halt beside her.

"Doctor Cameron! Everyone is saying you and House..."

Cameron made an irritated noise in the back of her throat and strode away from her colleague. Vaguely hearing the words 'kissing' and 'cafeteria' from behind her, her hands were shaking as she began filling in the spaces on her patient's form.

If things continued this way, it was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

Meanwhile, House was having quite a pleasant time of it.

He had entered his office sat down behind his desk, a slow smile spreading across his face as he thought about the events of the day. His team hadn't bothered him in over an hour, evidently deciding that a mysteriously happy (well... happier) House was just as frightening and potentially dangerous as a mysteriously angry House. They clearly doubted that whatever he was so pleased about was good news for them and so they had escaped to carry out pointless pursuits around the hospital.

House wasn't entirely sure where they had gone and to be honest, he didn't care. They didn't have a case so he didn't need them or particularly want them around to chat.

In fact, he had often thought it would be excellent if they would all fold neatly into boxes to be stored conveniently somewhere out of the way until they had a case when he could pull them out (not literally, of course, he'd make someone else do that), blow the dust off them and seat them around the conference table to solve the next puzzle before they went back into their boxes. The boxes would be customised, obviously, so that his employees would think he was letting them be original. The real reason behind it, however, would be that if he didn't want to deal with one of them he knew which box not to open. Not that he would be the one to open... oh, never mind.

He shook his head to clear this rather random train of thought and as he looked up he spotted Cuddy marching purposefully towards his office. He knew it was too good to be true. More than an hour or so of undisturbed peace was too much to ask, apparently. He braced himself for the onslaught of complaining about whatever her chosen topic for today was and watched her open the door to his office.

She stood before him silently for a moment before glancing into the conference room, seeming to notice for the first time that it was devoid of House's three subordinates.

"Where are your team?

"Beats me. It's your hospital. What kind of Dean of Medicine are you if you don't know where all of the hospital workers are and what they're doing at all times?"

Cuddy seized her opening. "Speaking of what my employees are doing, why have I heard all over the hospital that my Head of Diagnostics was seen kissing a certain ER employee in the cafeteria?"

"May seem like an obvious answer but... because he was?"

"House, what were you... Do you really think that was professional?"

"It was my lunch break. If I wanted I could go and visit a strip club on my lunch break as long as I don't come back drunk and it doesn't interfere with work."

"You mean with what little work you actually do. Anyway, you go to a strip club and Cameron would kill you."

"I know. I'm just throwing it out there as a 'for instance.' I'm not seriously saying I would. There isn't a good place close enough to get there and back and have a long enough amount of time in there to make it worth it. If you would extend my lunch breaks, maybe?"

"House, you come in late, go home as soon as you can get away with it and miss clinic duty. You don't think you have enough of a sweet deal?"

"Not if I can push it further, I don't. Despite what Shakespeare implies, you can't have too much of a good thing."

Cuddy shook her head. "I'm not extending your lunch break." She frowned, successfully lead off topic by House, she had momentarily forgotten what it was she wanted to say. She quickly searched her mind, hindered in the process by House's smugly smiling face. Suddenly she remembered and took up the topic with somewhat depleted energy. She sighed.

"Look, House, could you please _try_ to limit your displays of affection to outside of the hospital? Especially in front of patients."

"But Mom..." House whined childishly. "She's pretty."

"House." She gave him a stern look and he began twirling his cane in his hand, staring steadily back at her. "Patients expect to be treated by professional doctors, not doctors resembling adolescents who are attached at the lips."

He looked down and nodded slightly, knowing that Cameron would probably agree with Cuddy on this point. He would tone it down in front of the patients and refrain from kissing her in front of them. That didn't mean he couldn't make it absolutely clear that she was his if any of the said patients appeared to be expressing too keen an interest in Allison Cameron.

Now that he was satisfied that the news would be spread sufficiently around the hospital, he was certain that the male employees would be aware of Cameron's updated status as 'taken.' They would also be well aware of his qualities giving them adequate reason to stay away from Cameron if they knew what was good for them. All things considered there wouldn't be a need to continue to claim her quite so obviously, unless, of course, they didn't seem to get the message clearly enough.

Cuddy sighed in relief, clearly grateful for his agreement. "Thank you." She turned to leave but stopped at the door. Hesitating for a moment, she eventually turned back and looked straight into his eyes. "I'm happy for the pair of you, House."

"Thanks, Cuddy."

"I mean it. I know you'll try to treat her well because you appreciate her now. You might not have done three years ago but you've both been through so much since then. She'll be good for you."

"That's what Wilson said."

"He knows what he's talking about. He knows you. Don't let go of her House."

With that she left and House was alone once more. He turned to his computer and opened up a fresh email. Typing a quick message he sent it to Cameron's pager.

* * *

Cameron picked up the vibrating pager and scanned the message.

_ Meet me in my office at 5. Going for a drink. House._

She smiled as she finished it and put it back, a huge grin across her face. Maybe the rest of the afternoon would be just about bearable now.

Roughly two and a half hours later she left the ER. The page from House and the promise of a meeting after work had made the afternoon tolerable enough, but had also caused it to pass more slowly than she'd ever seen time go.

She had looked up at the clock reliably every five minutes, positive that at least twenty minutes had passed, only to be proven wrong every time. Many times she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself saying some very unladylike words in her irritation.

She left the ER as soon as she could, five o'clock on the dot, and rushed into the foyer, eager to get upstairs and see House.

On her way across to the elevator she stopped as she spotted Chase standing near the entrance of the hospital, apparently waiting for someone. She bit her lip indecisively. If she talked to him she would be late for House. On the other hand she would get the opportunity to tell him first hand of the situation between House and herself.

Her decision made, she changed her course and headed towards the blonde Australian.

* * *

At about a quarter to five, House was still sat in his office, having had spent the afternoon doing very little. He had located his hand held game console in the third drawer, buried underneath a pile of paper. He was close to finishing level 6 of Super Mario Brothers when he heard the door to his office opening. He smiled, assuming it was Cameron and she had managed to get away from the ER early. He was proven wrong, however, when he looked up to see Wilson settling himself in the chair opposite the desk. House rolled his eyes.

"It's you."

"Well done. Were you expecting someone else?" Wilson asked with a knowing smile on his face. "Cameron, maybe?"

"Well, I'm not going to stop my game for you." House said, turning back to the game boy and pressed the play button, causing the image on the screen to resume motion.

Wilson took this as a 'yes' and his grin expanded further. "Is she on her way up?"

"I paged her to be here at five."

"It's only quarter to."

"Thought she might be early."

"Where are you taking her?"

House shrugged, still not removing his eyes from the screen. "Bar."

Wilson nodded. "Of course you are. I wouldn't expect anything else from you. Nice and simple."

House made a noise of agreement in the back of his throat. "It should be better than that disaster in the restaurant. More comfortable."

Wilson smiled. "I hope everything goes alright then."

"Thanks, Wilson."

"I have some things to sort out in my office before I head off for the night. I'll call you later to see how it went."

House nodded and lifted his head from the game as Wilson stood up.

"Right. I'll talk to you later then."

Wilson left the room and House returned to his game. A few minutes later he glanced up at the clock and noticed the minute hand had passed the twelve. It was after five o'clock and Cameron was not here. Irrationally his mind started worrying about what might have happened to her. He wheeled his chair over to the computer, putting the game boy down on the desk as he went and typed in another message in a fresh email window.

* * *

"Chase!"

Chase turned around at the sound of his name instinctively looking for the brown haired immunologist to whom he knew that the voice belonged. He stood still as she hurried towards him from the direction of the ER. She came to a halt in front of him looking slightly worried and her tongue darted out to wet her lips, a sign of nervousness that he had learnt to recognise.

"Everything alright, Cameron?" he asked, concern laced through his voice. She bit her lip as she seemed to visibly search for words to communicate what was on her mind.

"I wanted to tell you... didn't want you to hear it from somewhere else." She started but then seemed to lose the direction she was going in. This was harder than she expected. She didn't want to hurt him any more than she might have done already. But she swallowed determinedly. He would be hurt so much more if somebody else told him. The only way to prevent him finding out was to go around the entire hospital, threatening everybody she came across to keep their mouths shut and then she would have to give House up. And she was _not_ going to do that.

Chase was studying her face closely, waiting wordlessly for her to continue. She appreciated this. It would be easier if she was not interrupted.

"I wanted to let you know. I'm sure you'll hear it from someone else if I don't. House and I are... er... together." She looked down and smiled at this last thought. The idea of House being with her filled her with happiness but she'd rather Chase didn't see her grinning and assume she was being insensible to his own feelings. She fought to keep her features under control and so with this task on her mind it was a few seconds before her brain registered that Chase hadn't responded. Her eyes rose to look at him, wondering what he was thinking. She was shocked to see that he was smiling slightly; he nodded gently when she looked at him.

"It's alright, Cameron. I told you- I'm happy for you. I'm glad you got what you wanted." He tilted his head. "The way you were acting I thought something terrible had happened. If all you want to say is that you're happy then don't act so nervous."

Cameron laughed softly. Chase noted it didn't have the same effect on him anymore. Vikki's laugh, however... Chase smiled at the thought of Vikki. He hoped one day their relationship could advance beyond friendship.

"Thanks, Chase."

"So when did all this happen?"

"This morning officially but we've been building up to it for a few days." She laughed and shook her head. "On second thought, it's been building up for years."

Chase nodded. "I know. I'm glad he finally realised you were worth it."

Cameron smiled and leaned forwards to give him a quick hug. "You're a great guy, you know."

"Yes. Thanks." He stepped back and smiled down at her. He looked down the around the foyer where he had been waiting for Vikki to walk her out to her car.

Cameron, it appeared, was on her way upstairs when she had spotted him and Chase thought he knew where she was heading. As if she were reading her mind, Cameron looked down and smiled again.

"He paged me before. I'm meeting him in his office and we're going to go for a drink after work."

"Good." At the corner of his vision Chase could see Vikki standing by the clinic doors and he turned his head to acknowledge that he had seen her. Encouraged, she approached, smiling warmly. She reached the pair of them and, standing by Chase's side, extended her hand to Cameron who accepted it immediately.

"Hi. I'm Vikki Tatum."

"Allison Cameron." At the sound of the name, Vikki appeared to do a double take when she recognised it and surreptitiously glanced at Chase before gathering herself again.

"You're the Immunologist Chase used to work with? He's told me about you. It's great to meet you."

"Likewise. Yeah we used to work in Diagnostics together for Dr House. I work in the ER now. Which department are you in?"

"I'm a pathologist. I've been here a couple of weeks. Chase has been helping me get used to the hospital."

Cameron looked across at Chase and smiled knowingly. She had a feeling that this was who he had in mind when he said he may have a romantic prospect on the horizon. The nervous look on his face confirmed it. "I'm sure he has. He's great."

Vikki smiled. "He is."

Cameron's pager beeped against her hip and she pulled it out and glanced down to read it. Scanning the message a grin spread across her face. Once she was finished she tucked her pager back underneath her sweater and looked up again.

"Sorry. I have to go. House wants me. He's waiting upstairs." She smiled again and looked at Vikki. "It was great to meet you." Vikki nodded and smiled as Cameron turned to walk towards the elevator to meet House.

Chase and Vikki turned to face each other. They met each other's eyes and smiled.

"So that's Cameron? The one House was talking about?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. That's her."

"You used to go out with her?"

"Yes." He replied concisely.

"And now she's with House?"

"As of this morning, yes."

Vikki processed all this information for a second. "It doesn't bother you?"

"It did to start with. Not anymore. She wouldn't have been happy with me and I would have ending up hating myself because I wasn't House. It's always been him she wanted."

Vikki nodded. "Okay then. As long as you're not upset that's fine."

"I can't believe it doesn't bother you."

"Like I said, everyone has a past." She shrugged as the pair began walking towards the doors leading to the car park. "You're happy and she seems happy, doesn't she?" she jerked her head back, indicating the direction in which Cameron had headed.

Chase glanced back over his shoulder at her gesture and saw Cameron waiting for the elevator. As he watched she reached over to jab the button impatiently and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I hope it stays that way."

* * *

Cameron pushed the button for the elevator again, becoming frustrated at how long it was taking to arrive, knowing that House would be waiting impatiently for her. Finally the doors before her opened quietly and she stepped inside feeling grateful that it was empty. The doors closed behind her and the box ascended up the elevator shaft, letting her out on the floor where she had worked for three years. She hurried down the corridor, bidding a hasty good night to Wilson as she passed him heading in the other direction. He smiled and waved her on her way, informing her as he did so that House was in his office.

She pushed open the glass door to House's office and entered. He had his back to her, pulling the blinds down to cover the door leading to the balcony. He turned at the sound of her entrance and glanced pointedly at the cloak on his desk.

"You're late."

"I was held up."

"I'm hurt that you think something else is more important than me. Go on then- held up doing what?"

"I was talking to Chase and a friend of his."

"That's not a hold up. A hold up is if the roof of an orphanage collapsed on the kiddies in their beds and you were the _only_ doctor in this hospital who they would allow close enough to them to treat them. Now _that_ would have been an excuse I might consider accepting. Talking to Chase is not a good enough reason for standing me up." House gave a mock sniffle.

"Stand you... I was five minutes late! Most people are patient enough to wait for five minutes."

"It should be absolutely crystal clear to you by now, after working with me for over three years, that I am not 'most people', shouldn't it? And it should be equally obvious that I am not the most patient person in the world." House teased her as he walked across the office to be closer to her.

"Anyway, like you can talk. When was the last time you were on time for work?" Cameron asked and tilted her head back to look him in the eye as her stood close to her.

"Depends what you mean by on time. If you mean the time Cuddy would like me to be here then I don't think I've ever been on time. If, however, you mean the time which I intend on arriving then I'm always on time."

"And what time do you usually aim to get here? Because it varies quite a lot."

"I aim to get here about twenty minutes after I leave my apartment."

"Which is?"

"About an hour after whatever time I happen to wake up."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "No wonder you're always late." She muttered. House grinned.

"Part of my charm, Allison. On anyone else it would be irritating but on me it's extremely appealing, don't you think?" He brushed a hand through his hair as he said this, parodying the generic arrogant jock on every teen movie ever made.

It was the sound of her name falling from his lips that sent shivers up her spine and caused her to drop the subject. Smiling languidly in pleasure she reached up to kiss him on the lips.

"Well, I'm here now. You want to go get that drink?"

House kissed her once more before walking over to grab his leather motorcycle jacket from his chair. He shrugged it on and pulled open a random drawer, sweeping all the papers on his desk into the open drawer. Cameron inwardly flinched. She was glad she didn't have to tidy his desk anymore and sure didn't envy the person who did. It was virtually impossible for anybody but House to find anything in his desk. He called it the 'creative chaos of the imaginative mind.' Everybody else called it a bloody mess.

House straightened and looked at her. "Motorcycle okay?"

Cameron nodded. He was a good driver and he wouldn't put her in danger- after all, the last time they had been on the bike together he had given her the only helmet he had. Besides, any opportunity which forced her into a closer proximity to House was not something to miss.

At her consenting nod he reached under the desk and pulled out a second helmet.

"How long has that been there?"

"After the last time I thought it might be a good idea to keep a spare here. Just in case the opportunity arose again to get you close to me."

Cameron took the helmet from his outstretched hand so he had both hands free to open his pill bottle. After swallowing two of the small white pills he put the orange bottle into his pocket and picked up his cane. He came out from behind the desk and walked over to her. Stopping in front of her he battled with his inhibitions and took a deep breath. After revealing how he felt about her to Wilson he felt it was only fair that she should know too. In fact, she should probably have been told before Wilson. _Too late for that now_, he thought.

"House, are you alright?" Cameron asked, concerned by this sudden onset of anxiety. He nodded that he was alright and looked up at her. She was surprised that she could see so much in his eyes that had previously been carefully hidden. She waited for him to say something, suddenly realising that she shouldn't interrupt him when he was preparing himself for something which took a lot of courage.

Suddenly he mumbled something. "Love you, Allison." Her heart lifted at the words which his eyes confirmed as true when he looked at her. She bit her lip, a smile spreading uncontrollably. He looked down and held his breath, hoping to whoever could hear him that she would feel enough for him to return the words.

"I love you too, Greg." His first name sounded right coming from her mouth. It sounded natural to both of them and House found he liked hearing her voice utter the single syllable.

He looked up into her joyful eyes and stepped forward to envelop her in a strong hug. They just stood for a while, still in each other's arms. Then he leaned back slightly to look down at her face. She stared up at him, that same wide, benevolent smile still adorning her features. He bent down as she stretched up and their lips met halfway in a soft kiss. He stroked her hair out of her eyes as the pulled away and smiled down at her.

"Let's go." He said and they walked to the door. He opened it and stood to the side, allowing her to exit before him in a display of chivalry that Cameron was not really expecting. She thanked him and he nodded shortly to acknowledge her gratitude, not really feeling comfortable with public thanks.

"Where are we going?" Cameron asked as they approached the end of the corridor.

"I think that I should get to choose seeing as how you made me wait for you." He replied, hitting the elevator button with the bottom of his cane. "There's a great bar down the street that I go to with Wilson a lot." He paused for a moment, thinking. "You know, one of these days someone should commend the owner of that place for having the foresight to build an establishment serving alcohol so close to a hospital. Anyone collapses in a liquor induced coma and they could be here in minutes."

"Yes, I'm sure that's one of the main reasons they built it there. Not its proximity to the main road and the lack of many other bars within a couple of miles, but for the health benefit to their customers."

House grinned as the pair stepped inside the elevator which had just arrived. "My time spent waiting, my choice."

Cameron smiled to herself as the elevator began its descent. She didn't say anything to him but privately she thought that maybe it was his turn to do a little waiting. After all, she had waited long enough for him.

* * *

A/N: That's it then. Hope you liked the end. I tried to make sure all the loose ends were tied up and I hope all the questions have been answered. By the way, the Shakespearian quote House is referring to in his conversation with Cuddy is from Act Five Scene One of 'As You Like It.' Rosalind says, 'Can one desire too much of a good thing?' Obviously it's not mine- it's Shakespeare's.

Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you all liked it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed for their comments, fantastic support and motivation. It meant a lot to me to read your messages. Thanks to those people who added this story onto their alerts or favourites list.

Finally, I need to say a huge thank you to my best friend Vikki who read through each and every chapter of this patiently, giving her helpful advice and spotting mistakes that I had missed. When I needed a name for a female character I used hers as an ongoing thank you for her support and encouragement. Love you, Vikki.

If you've come this far, thanks for bearing with me and I would like it if you could find the time to leave a review, just a few words to tell me what you thought.

Have a great day,

Jenny.


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